Category Archives: Health

I really like reading posts that people do of “what I ate” posts, whether it is for the day, week, lately, whatever. I figured, some people are wondering what I pregnant vegan eats in a day, so I thought I would try really hard to take a photo of my food before gobbling it all up. And share some of the nutritional information.

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Almost every single day has been a chocolate banana shake since I found out that I am pregnant. I was using spirulina (and chocolate) in the shake to up my iron, but the powder spirulina ended up being more expensive than the tablets, so I am making the switch. Which has been nice because I rarely have a “pure” chocolate shake. It’s always spirulina chocolate, fruit and chocolate, peanut butter and chocolate, etc. It’s made with soy milk, chia seeds, collard greens, some greens powder I got from Vegan Cuts, brown rice and pea protein.

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Before heading to work I made myself a small iced cafe au lait. I had leftover coffee from Rook and added some soy milk since I keep hearing how I need so much calcium. So I figured why not? Snapped a quick picture next to the flowers at my work’s garden. It seems nice and quite but there was a lot of construction going on. My boss is building a deck for her backyard and is laying lots of new cement around the building, so today was a little crazy.

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Since work was pretty all over the place, I didn’t even notice how hungry I was and had a late lunch. I had a green apple, which I always pre-chop and stashed in a Blue Avocado baggie. I love these reusable bag, because unlike Lunch Skins, these baggies have a zip seal so they are perfect for holding fruits and veggies. Sorry if I sound like they a sponsoring me, but I just really love these bags. Although if Blue Avocado approached me…. ^__~

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Clearly I didn’t JUST eat an apple for lunch. I also had some leftover Dragon Noodle Salad from Isa Does It. Since rice noodles get hard the next day I ate it hot, and tossed in a few cherry tomatoes from my CSA since I wasn’t eating it over lettuce. It is by far NOT the most attractive dish to take a photo of, but it is pretty tasty. And I even got to use brown rice noodles, so I get a little credit for a whole grain right?

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Then around three I was starting to get crabby, and was like “oh yeah, I’m hungry again.” Jon got me three months worth of Vegan Cuts boxes as birthday gift, joking that I would be a snacking monster. He was kind-of right. Each time I got one I took all the snacks and brought them into work to eat when I was running on empty. I picked this bar by Kutoa, and I’ve never had one before. It was pretty good, I liked how it wasn’t too sweet, and had some crunch from the chia seeds.

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When I got home I went for two mile run (about 3o minutes) and was hot sweaty, and still hungry. I quickly gobbled up a black bean brownie from Minimalistic Baker and took a shower. This mostly was just to hold me off while I took a shower and finished up dinner.

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So what’s for dinner? I prepped some pickled eggplant on Monday specifically for this Hummus Bowl dish. Jon and I aren’t big eggplant fans, but our CSA is kind-of having a weak year combined with they are transitioning from spring crops to summer crops. Every year it’s a little slim picking at this time, but this year seems notably bad. So I picked an eggplant, and figured I would try the pickling and roasting method. It has been… interesting? The whole bowl was a little too acidic overall, at least for acid reflux prone pregnant me. I made the hummus as instructed on the site, and tossed the couscous in some soy yogurt. Since I didn’t have any falafels, I used some frozen hemp beet burgers from Protein Ninja.

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So what does all this food look like nutrition wise? Well, I do plan on eating more. I just haven’t picked out what yet. Bagel with tofutti cream cheese? Maybe. Homemade purple basil ice cream with blackberries? Very possible. Wegman brand oreos? Yeah, that might happen too. So some of the stats are wrong, I am probably adding another 300-400 calories to my day. Plus, I am not getting the specifics for the bar I ate, and I just used a generic hummus instead of plugging all the ingredients in Cronometer. It isn’t perfect guys. But it gives you a general idea of nutritional intake. I excluded the shot of protein because I hit 100% on all the specifics, BORING.

Clearly I am not quite hitting all the B Vitamins I need, but if I eat the bagel with tofutti cream cheese I’ll end up hitting all my nutritional requirements. I was low on iron today, because well, I am not including spirulina in my diet like I use to. I am waiting for my tablets to arrive in the mail. But if I eat a bagel, I should get 100%. I have hit my requirements for vitamin C and calcium which are also common things that people stress about with diets for pregnant women.

Also, take note that I am using Cronometer to track my nutritional intake. Their information is only so accurate. Some foods don’t have all the nutritional information available. I also selected an option that changes my nutritional requirements. It recommends I have a food intake of roughly 2,000 calories, and I usually ignore that suggestion and go for more.


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Happy New Year everyone! I love January since it gives a nice resting period after the crazy holiday season. Once all the hustle and bustle of December is done, it gives you a chance to reflect and set new goals. I know a lot of people dislike the idea of a New Year Resolution, and I usually agree with those ideas. I mean if you need a change in life, why wait until January? Some of the things I want to work on I’ve already started in December, but I now have the time to focus on them.

But I always like seeing blogger reflect over the year, and making solid lists of goals. I especially like it when they make a list and write about what they did and didn’t get done. With that in mind, I will copy and paste my goals from 2015 and write if I was successfull or not.

Drink Less Booze – Hmm… I think I failed this one. I am pretty sure I drank more booze than I did last year, BUT I did change one important thing- I am drinking less beer because I’m bored. I think the year before I was drinking it too often before dinner when my husband was working late. I didn’t like that. It felt like I was hiding beer bottles because I felt bad that I was drinking more than him. Now it doesn’t quite feel that way, but I am still drinking on a fairly daily basis. It won’t last… but I won’t go into that just yet.

Run and Workout More Often – So this was also a kind-of fail. I was doing pretty good for awhile, but then when I moved I messed up my foot, putting the whole exercise thing on the back burner for awhile. Pretty much this is a repeat goal for this year.

Kick the Coffee Habit – Yey! Something I accomplished! I still probably drink more coffee than what I pictured when I first set the goal, but I don’t feel the NEED to drink it like I did last year. I drink often, but I don’t noticed when I don’t drink it, which was what I was hoping for. I think a lot of the reason is that I stopped drinking the beans from Starbucks. I swear they add caffeine to their coffee.

Read 16 Books (with less comics) – I set a challenge on Goodreads for 28 books (16 books + 12 cookbooks) and I failed. I read a total of 17 books, 6 comic books, 3 cookbooks, 2 food-humor, 3 non-fiction, and 3 novels. You can see the summary on Goodreads.

Have a Cup of Tea Each Night – I know why I set this goal, less binge eating at night, and I think I am worse than ever. Time to reset that goal.

Pay More Attention to Vegan Clothes and Beauty Products – I have to say I am doing really well with this. I have gotten a lot of new lip balms that have beeswax from Christmas gifts, but some I gave away. I have been much better at checking companies and ingredients before heading out. I even like getting some of the beauty boxes, and will have a review for Petit Vour soon.

Start taking a photo a day – I didn’t REALLY get a photo a day, but I didn’t do too bad. I missed some days, and I fell of the wagon towards the end of December. But I will add the photos from last month soon, but you can see the other photos with the 365 2015 tag. Truthfully I was thinking about doing it again this year but my new place is very boring. Yeah I get lots of light, but I don’t walk around as much as I use to, and the area isn’t as dense with cool things. It feels a little devoid of life and the roads are packed with fast cars. Maybe next year.

Get Out of My Apartment – Accomplished! It is a little sad that we didn’t get a single family home and got a rowhouse in a development, but you gotta start somewhere right? I am a little sad but I am a little relieved to not have to worry about lawn maintenance… yet. We are working slowly to make our house look and feel like a home, and it is slowly growing on me. 

Goals for 2016

Work out More Often

As mentioned before, I wasn’t doing so hot with my working out in 2014, and I was doing pretty well in 2015. I was a little stressed with trying to balance my new schedule and finding a new house. Then I kind-of started to hurt my foot, and it was all down hill for the move. I just started to get back into the swing of things in December. My general goal is to work out 4-5 days a week, two days strength training, two days running, with a floater day to pick and choose a workout. 

Start Practicing Yoga and Meditating

I hear so many people saying how much meditating helps keep them grounded. I am feeling pretty overwhelmed by new home, and oddly the “calming” enviroment makes me stressed! I feel like people have new obnoxious driving methods, it takes forever to drive places, and the walk and run anymore is unpleasant. I think meditating and doing yoga will help me out. I am trying to do Yoga Camp on YouTube, and I really like the instructor. I am only on day two, and I technically started to do the challenge that was done last year, before hand. I am already starting to really enjoy it, and her methods. After yoga camp I might just do meditation, but I haven’t decided.

Stop Late Night Binge Eating

After moving I really got worse with my late night binge eating. I am not even hungry and some nights I went to bed felling like my stomach would ooze out if I felt asleep on my tummy. I don’t like feeling this way, and I am not burning calories to need all this food. I am trying hard to listen to how much I want to eat, and to not feel like I always need to snack. I am trying to drink more tea, and keep better entertained. Really focus on what we are watching, or do something else other than watch TV, play a game, color in a book, read a magazine, etc. Otherwise I am great at listening to my body during the daytime.

Read 28 Books

I set the goal last year, and I want to stick to it. I think last year was a flop in part because I tried to read a book that was almost 500 pages! Ack. I am a slow reader, so that took most of year to read. I also stopped reading and reviewing cookbooks the way I use to, so that kind-of took away from my overall numbers. So I want to get back to that.

Start trying to get pregnant

Cats out of the bag! I want to have a baby. It seems weird for me to say it since so many blogs I follow are run by people who don’t want to have kids. Sure there are some with children, and I get both ends of the spectrum. In fact I am kind-of in the middle. My husband and I decided we would start the journey of trying conceive, and I am not sure if this will be a fast or slow process, nor do I know how much I am willing to try and get pregnant. But the important thing is that we are starting the journey.

Buy a second couch

Oh such a materialistic goal. But I think it is a good one. We currently have once couch and it was donated to us from my boss, who was getting rid of some of the crap her ex-husband left. At the time our current couch had a broken foot, and I was tired of Jon trying to periodically fix it. Now that we have the space, we would like two couches because 1) we might get a third human 2) sometimes we both want to read a books in the living room 3) we both want to stretch our legs at night. 

Hike More

I want to hike around more, and I don’t have any specific goals like “hike x amount of miles” or “do a trail once a month.” I know that it needs to be somewhat organic, for example I wanted to hike on New Years Day, but it has been so rainy the past few days that I thought it would be a muddy mess. We now live a little closer to Wharton State Park so we might try longer hiking trails, and maybe travel up north more often for different trails.

Visit a new vegan restaurant with Alexa once a month

Alexa doesn’t know this one yet, but I want us to hang out more. I also want to try more restaurants. I don’t eat out often, and sometimes I feel bad for not supporting local businesses. So I want to make more road trips into New Jersey, and post them in the blog. Maybe check out a few new places in Philadelphia too. Overall I am hoping to eat out with Alexa 12 times this year… so cross our fingers.

Watch a Movie Once a Week

I’ve probably mentioned a few times on the blog that I went to college for film and digital video. My husband went to school for screenwriting. You would think that would mean we watch movies all the fucking time, but we don’t. Jon really likes watching TV Shows, which is the medium for screenwriters. I miss watching movies, and I want to take the time to watch them much more. Perhaps I will post a small review each week with Sunday Reading post, to keep me on track.

Start working towards the goal of being a Dietitian or Wellness Coach

So my Mom and Aunt mentioned I should look into becoming a dietitian, and it actually has been something that I’ve been wanting to do for awhile. I’ve waffled back and forth with it just because I was a little scared of what the clientele would look like. But I am  slowly finding out that I know a lot about food and nutrition to the degree that it is starting to bother me I can apply it something. I am in the early stages of trying to figure out what type of certification I want, and it might be a process that will take 2 or 3 years, but you have to start somewhere right?

Alright guys, I hope I didn’t bore you too much. What are the goals you are aiming for this year?


asksnanswers

Alexa is working toward a vegetarian diet, and is loaded with questions. Jennifer’s got answers. We talk about anything as long as it is vegan. Are tattoos vegan? How do I politely not eat Thanksgiving dinner? How do I order without pissing off the waitress? We know you are dying to ask!

asksalexaWhen going vegan everyone focuses on food, but what about clothes? How can I tell shoes are vegan? And where do I get them?

There are lots of vegan shoes out there, but it can be a little hard to find. Sure if you type in “vegan shoes” in google you get a bunch of stuff. There are stores that specialize in vegan shoes like Moo Shoes (which has a brick and mortar store in New York City and Los Angeles) but they can be pretty expensive. There are other all vegan shoe stores like Lookie Lou, Vegan Chic, and Alternative Outfitters. Some companies have vegan shoe tags like Modcloth, Zappos, and Lulus. But I’ve found sometimes these searches aren’t the greatest. For example if I went to DSW and search “vegan” I get a few hits. But truthfully there are MORE shoes available. So why the low results? Because they are basically showing only brands the identify the faux leather as VEGAN faux leather. 

So how can you tell what your shoe is made out of? Well, luckily it is all in the tag. Do yourself a favor and grab a shoe from your closet (hopefully not too old that the label is worn down) There are several different ways shoes have their materials listed. They sometimes have a chart, sometimes they have a small note, sometimes it is on a sticker, or printed on the inside of the shoe. Just keep looking around. 

The shoe should have materials listed for upper material (this is what you see on the outside of the shoe), lining/inner (you know, the stuff your feet touches), and outer sole. Some shoes will have these graphic charts. It will have these images, and whatever is next to upper shoe icon will be the material they use. 

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So for example I grabbed an old pair (pre-vgan days) of shoes from my closet (it’s this pair if you are wondering). I flipped the shoe over and on the sole there was a sticker that looked like this: (synthetic outside, leather inside, synthetic sole)

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So not vegan, but only the inside isn’t vegan, which is actually very common. The problem with these icons is that they are vague. For example, they have “textile” but it doesn’t need to specify what the material is. So you could picking up a pair of shoes that have a fabric that is made from silk or wool. Some people even have found that the icons don’t match up with information on the box, or catalogue. There is also the chance the glue isn’t vegan, and it is pretty much near impossible to find any confirmation about the glue source. So it is always a good idea to check the box the shoe comes in to see if there is any additional information.

Truthfully I am loving Target’s website as they do a great job listing the materials in their shoes. It is nice to be able to look around and read the materials before heading out to the store. In general I find that vegan shoes are usually super expensive or super cheap. Why? Well, leather is a little expensive, and is actually desired by most people. So most shoes want to have it. Most cheap shoes are cheap because of the lack of leather. The downside is that this can be bad for the environment and be made in sweatshops. Some of the more expensive vegan shoe brands are trying to have better quality and better working conditions for the workers.

How do you guys buy vegan shoes? Any favorite sites or store to shop at?


Sorry for the delayed post, I had a very weird day yesterday. It was full of highs and lows, and by the end of the day I decided I needed to take a mental day off from blogging! I think after vegan mofo I won’t be posting much about food for October. Maybe a vegan candy post, and a pumpkin spice popcorn ball recipe. But I will probably spend October catching up on blog posts I started, mostly about exercise and a restaurant, and I think I am going to try and do a few horror movie reviews. I never really talk about movies, and I sure love them.

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I started my morning with a very fall breakfast. I mixed a 1/4 cup pumpkin puree, 1/2 almond milk, some spices, 1 tbsp honee, and 1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds. I let it sit overnight and topped it with some chopped apples that were covered in sugar and blackstrap molasses. It was pretty awesome. It was quick to eat and very light which was a good thing because I ended up taking a really long run that morning. I’ve been trying really hard to get back into exercising, which has been hard since I fell out of exercising in our new home. I think things have gotten easier now that the weather has gotten cooler.

be369280-f4f2-4bcd-a095-94b4561633baIt ended up being 50 degrees outside so I got to wear my running jacket. I miss wearing it!  I used my new iPhone to track my running, which is always kind-of fun to see new numbers instead of me thinking “I’m probably running slow…. I think I am making good time…” Since I was going for a long run, it meant exploring my new neighborhood. I was a little nervous because my old Haddon area was full of small houses, and old fashioned streets. That meant lots of trees and sidewalks. I never grew up in areas where you had closed off developments and the streets connecting them were very busy. So it was a learning experience of which roads are best for running. 

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I decided to run through the development across from mine, and round to the local park. I am not a huge fan of man made park, you know the ones with no trees, paved trails, and baseball fields, but this one is really close to us. So I ran through it, and found this guy! I wish I could run with my SLR camera because I could of gotten a cool photo! Ugh! But oh well. I think what makes long distance running so cool is that your world get smaller. Places you think are just too far to do anything but drive to, you soon realize your body can travel you there, and it is pretty rewarding. Is it practical to run to the grocery store? Probably not, well depending on what you are getting. I use to run to my CVS to pick up prescriptions. That wasn’t too weird.

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Then when I got to work, my boss offered me some squash. He has been growing them on the fence, and these cashaw squash got huge! They are a variety of heirloom squash that is suppose to be a secret specialty in the south. They are kind-of like a mix of a butternut squash and a pumpkin. They make great pies, and desserts. My favorite was making Isa Chandra’s butternut alfredo with the cashaw plant. Very yummy.

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Then when I headed back to my car it turned out my boss got my squash already to drive me home. Maybe I should start locking my car? Well, I will briefly go into the details of the “bad” part of the day. Basically a day or two ago my mother texted all of us that my dog Madison (the dog we adopted when I was in high school) was very ill. She is now hitting 15 years, and woke up unable to walk. After a nap she seemed fine again. Well yesterday I got a text from my Mom saying “call me when you get off of work.” So I though “I think Madison died…” then thought there was a 25% chance it was my Mom asking me something stupid and not just calling me after 5 pm. So I sat at work trying not to think about it, and got all worked up. Turned out she wanted me to come over and pick fabrics. UGH! When I told her what I thought she might be calling for she was “oh yeah, that makes sense, but no”

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At that point I was happy to stop by Iron Hill Brewery on the way home and fill up my growler. Sadly, I don’t like stopping her often. They aren’t the most vegan friendly restaurant, and their menu gets increasingly smaller for vegans. But I do love fresh beer. So I filled up my growler with the pumpkin ale and brought it home. I think that is a great way to end the day right?

I originally was going to post a recipe for pumpkin spice popcorn balls, but I think I need to make one more batch to perfect the recipe. So you will probably see it after vegan mofo!


asksnanswers

Alexa is working toward a vegetarian diet, and is loaded with questions. Jennifer’s got answers. We talk about anything as long as it is vegan. Are tattoos vegan? How do I politely not eat Thanksgiving dinner? How do I order without pissing off the waitress? We know you are dying to ask!

asksalexaNow that I started pumping iron, should I start worrying about where I get iron?

Somehow in our mental psyche we imagine iron intake with strength and manliness. I mean weak women are prone to being iron anemic right? Well, lets start with why we need iron in our body. Our bodies take the iron we eat to create hemoglobin, which helps transport oxygen to our body. Not enough iron means that our body isn’t making enough hemoglobin, which means we can make enough red blood cells, which means our muscles are deprived of oxygen. 

So how much iron do you need? It varies with age, but the average adult male needs 8mg of iron, while a woman needs 18mg of iron. Why the extra load? Well, remember we need iron for our blood, and what happens each month? Menstruation. Yup, once a month we loose blood. But does that mean we still need to get 18mg each day that we don’t have our periods? Iron takes awhile to build up again in our system, so lets say your donate blood, it might take awhile to rebuild the iron again and would show in blood work a week later.

I like to use CRON-O-Meter a few random weeks during the year to try and check my dietary intake. I usually find that reaching that 18mg of iron is actually easy. Sometimes you need to try and focus on it, but it is more like what you eat are drops in the bucket. For example I got most of my iron from white beans from my lunch, but I also got iron from kale, spirulina, oats, and soymilk. Heck, I even got 6% of my iron from peaches (I ate three, so uh.. not sure if that is normal)

So what about this iron rich beef I keep hearing about? It is known in pop-science that beef is great for anemics. Right? Not really. This myth probably comes from two ideas. One is that liver is very high in iron. Each animal has varying amounts of iron in their liver, and apparently duck liver has the most iron. When comparing meats to each other, beef has more iron compared to chicken and pork. But compared to high iron vegan sources, beef isn’t that impressive. Three ounces of cooked beef has about 200 calories and 12% of your iron requirements, while half a cup of tofu has about 100 calories 35% of your iron requirements!

But there is something beef has over tofu- heme iron. Basically when animals consume iron, they start to process it for themselves to help with oxidizing their blood. When we eat animals were are eating half-processed iron, making it easy for our body to absorb. There is some evidence that heme iron may be bad for us, but like most nutritional science, it is hard to figure out if those bad things are from meats, or the heme iron. If you are concerned if the iron is being absorbed, you can try and increase absorption by eating a lot of vitamin C with your iron. Calcium and caffeine can hinder iron absorption, though I figure these can be hard to avoid pairing with foods. And my favorite suggestion is try cooking your food in iron pots, because the iron can leech into your food!

So should you supplement iron in your diet? I would say no unless you have an iron deficiency. Also keep in mind how often you donate blood, because that will effect your iron levels. But once you get your iron levels up, you can easily get the daily recommendations! I find adding a teaspoon of spirulina in my morning smoothie gives a nice boost to my iron intake. But for the most part, most foods have iron in it, and all those foods add up. It is also easier since many grain products have supplemented iron in them. For example oats have iron added to it, and does most wheat products. Try eating various greens, spirulina, tofu, beans, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, lentils, peas, blackstrap molasses, and tomato paste. And shit- there is even a fair about iron in CHOCOLATE! Even more in cacao!

Want some recipes for iron rich foods? Well here are few savory and sweet.

Lentil, Tempeh, and Sweet Potato Chili – If you ate a quarter of this dish (which is a lot) you will have consumed about 40% of the iron your need in your day. Not bad.

Spinach and Coconut Dal – This recipe mixed spinach and lentils to make a protein rich dish. You will be getting a quarter of your iron intake from a quarter of this dish.

Pinto Bean Mole Chili – This dish mixes beans and chocolate together with vitamin C rich foods. Making it great for iron absorption!

Beet and Carrot Juice – Freshly made juices are a great way to add iron to the diet, making it easy to eat lots of veggies and fruit in one sip.

Spinach Dal – Okay I’ve been listing a lot of lentil dishes, but this one features lots and lots of spinach, leaving a bright green goop!

Green Iron Smoothie – Alyssa talks about her method of adding the small amount of iron to equal a lot of iron. So her Green Iron Smoothie has 61% of the iron in a day! Holy cow!


asksnanswers

Alexa is working toward a vegetarian diet, and is loaded with questions. Jennifer’s got answers. We talk about anything as long as it is vegan. Are tattoos vegan? How do I politely not eat Thanksgiving dinner? How do I order without pissing off the waitress? We know you are dying to ask!

asksalexaSo vitamin B12. Sometimes I read it has vegan sources, sometimes I read it is the only “non-vegan” vitamin. Why the heck is vitamin B12 so confusing?

Vitamin B12 is a complicated and confusing vitamin. The vitamin is important for brain and nerve function, and having a deficiency in B12 can result in some serious problems, from tingling in the hands and feet to the more extreme blindness, deafness, and dementia. So clearly you want to make sure you get it.

Most people use vitamin B12 as the example of why we need to eat meat. But when you look closer B12 is in our meats because the animals are almost always given shots of the vitamin. So that means they aren’t actually making it themselves. So where does B12 come from? There aren’t any plants, fungi, or animals that make B12. Instead there are specific bacteria that make the vitamin. It is one of the most complicated vitamin structures out there and is produced commercially using bacteria. 

There is some debate about how we and other animals even got the B12 vitamin naturally. Some make the argument that we as humans have lost the bacteria that produces B12 in our gut over time. But the most common agreement is that we as a society have gotten too good at cleaning our food. B12 is naturally found in streams and soil, where the bacteria live. We filter B12 out of our water as a by product of making our water drinkable. We wash our produce because crunchy dirt in salads suck. This would also explain why domesticated animals lack the B12 vitamin as they are drinking filtered water, and grains that are removed from the ground and brought inside. So basically supplementation of some sort is needed unless you want to drink water from streams and scarfing down dirt, which no one recommends. I also want to say that is is a little bit of an oversimplification, as each animal have their own way of getting vitamin B12 (sometimes poops is involved.)

But here is where it gets complicated. There are some vegan foods that contain B12, usually foods that are made with bacteria. Some kombucha, tempeh, and algae contain vitamin B12, but some people cite these sources as unreliable and doesn’t absorb all the way by the body. Supposedly there can be a pseudovitamin state for vitamin B12, making the whole thing really complicated.

B12 is often broken down when heat is applied to it. So even if you are eating meat, cooking it breaks down some of the B12. This would happen in tempeh or other B12 fortified foods like soy milk or nutritional yeast. This is something you will want to keep in mind when thinking about your B12 intake.

So what can a vegan do? Well, there are lots of different options for B12. Many foods are fortified with it. For example many vegan milks fortify it, and a cup can yield 50% of the B12 requirement. Make sure you check the label, as I found even within brands the levels vary. For example the Wegman’s soy milk has B12 but the almond milk does not. Red Star nutritional yeast is fortified with B12 as well. There is even fortified chewing gum, which I started to take a liking to.

Even with some of these products in my diet, I still take supplements. I take a mental note about what I had that day, and if I didn’t have enough milk, gum, or whatever I take a pill. There are many different supplements on the market, and many are vegan. There are supplements that are in liquid form. Some people prefer this form because it absorbs faster in the blood stream through the tongue, and cuts out the chance of lactose or gelatin being in the supplement. There are sprays and drops that are taken orally.


asksnanswers

Alexa is working toward a vegetarian diet, and is loaded with questions. Jennifer’s got answers. We talk about anything as long as it is vegan. Are tattoos vegan? How do I politely not eat Thanksgiving dinner? How do I order without pissing off the waitress? We know you are dying to ask!

asksalexaI hear that soy is both good and bad? Which is true? I know a few people have told me that since I’ve been diagnosed with hypothyroid I should lay off the soy. Why is that?

There are two main reasons why people avoid soy. One reason is allergies. This is a VERY good reason to avoid soy. There is only a small percentage of people who actually have a soy allergy, even though it is one of the more common food allergies. Soy allergies are commonly an allergy that children grow out of. What makes it so scary is that there are many soy by products in our processed foods. As mentioned in the non-soy proteins post, there are lots of replacements for soy based products, even things like tofu and soy sauce.

The second murkier area for avoiding soybeans is the presence of phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are “dietary estrogens” because they are not made by the body, only plants produce them. When most people hear this they automatically assume it effects you estrogen levels and it is more complicated than that.

It is worth noting that soy isn’t the only food that contains phytoestrogens. In fact, nuts and seed oils have more phytoestrogens than soy products. Other foods that include phytoestrogens would be grains and cereals, legumes, and meats (what do you think cows and chickens are eating? Remember your are what you eat.). There are lots of foods we eat everyday with phytoestrogens and no one makes a stink about it, like flax seed (which has more phytoestrogens than soy), sesame seeds, coffee, apples, carrots, rice, and lots more.

Why do plants produce phytoestrogens? Well it is part of their defense systems, and protects them mostly from fungi. But since plants have been producing these estrogens for so long, humans and animals have evolved with them. That means we kind-of use these estrogens in our body too. But it is hard to pin point what makes phytoestrogens good or bad because of synthetic estrogens that are used in cosmetics. But there has been observations that phytoestrogen has helped regulate cholesterol and bone density in post-menopause. It has even been linked to the prevention of many different diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, brain function disorders, and osteoporosis.

So what about hypothyroidism and soy? Some people believe that phytoestrogen interferes with the absorption of hormones in the medication. But after reading through lots of medical journals, most say the effect is minimal. Still concerned? Guidelines that I read said to wait 4 hours to eat soy after taking any medication. That’s all you need to do. So it is probably good thing to eat soy for dinner or lunch, and just exclude it from your breakfast plans (if you take your medication in the morning).

I see men say they don’t eat soy because of the phytoestrogen, actually they say because of the estrogen. Phytoestrogen isn’t the same as estrogen. Studies have shown there is no effect on men from soy consumption. So shriveled testicles, no decreased semen samples, nothing. The frustrating thing about hearing men say this is that there is actual estrogen in milk and meat products.

Overall, all studies that find adverse effects of soy tended to be small studies, or studies performed on other animals. I wouldn’t be too concerned about phytoestrogen levels in soy, and it certainly shouldn’t discourage you from going vegan. As mentioned there is phytoestrogens in meats, most likely since cows and pigs are eating lots grains and soy, which have the plant-based hormone. There is also actual estrogen in milks and meats from animals, which is more likely to have more of an effect on your body than the phytoestrogens.


asksnanswers

Alexa is working toward a vegetarian diet, and is loaded with questions. Jennifer’s got answers. We talk about anything as long as it is vegan. Are tattoos vegan? How do I politely not eat Thanksgiving dinner? How do I order without pissing off the waitress? We know you are dying to ask!

asksalexaBecause I apparently live under a rock, I recently realized that apples are a great source of fiber – do you know of some good/reasonably priced sources of fiber?

Once I found this out, I was shocked- vegetables and fruit have lots of fiber! It is a little shocking since we keep reading about whole wheat or whatever whole grain is great source of fiber. Commercials keep suggesting grain products are truly the best way to get fiber. But really fruits and vegetables trump all. Once I put two and two together I wondered why we were told more about fiber in our greens over grains. Well, one reason is that you can’t really put a brand on an apple. Sure there are groups that promote specific produce to represent many different farmers, but their marketing tactics tend to not be as obvious as bread or cereal commercials.

The other reason that the fiber in fruits and vegetables isn’t common knowledge is probably generational. I know I get lots of poop and fiber jokes from my older bosses whenever I eat a big salad. But truthfully, a large salad filled with 5 cups of lettuce might only be around 10% of the fiber you need for the day. Point is that the idea of “ruffage” has disappeared in our food pyramids in class.

So what does fiber do for your body? I think this is an important thing to know since most people view it as a way to “keep full” and push your digestion tract clean. Well, first thing to point out that there are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble fibers. Insoluble fibers are the gross ones. They help “facilitates regular defecation” and “adds bulk to the stool” (thank Wikipedia for that very sterile wording). It also helps regulate blood sugar, which can be great for diabetics.

Soluble fiber is a little different. This fiber is known for lowering LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol. Which means it is good for the heart, remember those honey nut cheerio commercial guys! But they also form a viscous gel in the stomach which delays digestion, which means delayed digestion of carbohydrates, which means even blood sugar levels.

So which foods have which fibers? Well most insoluble fibers come from grains, nuts, beans, seeds, potato & fruit skins, avocados, green beans, zucchini, and cauliflower, just to name a few. Soluble fibers can come many of the same foods, nuts, seeds, beans, oats, rye, barley, various fruits and their skins, root vegetables, and psyllium husks (they have both fibers by the way). If you haven’t noticed I listed all vegan foods, and I wasn’t excluding any animal based products.

Both types of fiber can help serve as “prebiotics.” They are basically foods for the bacteria that live in your gut. By feeding them plenty of fiber they continue to grow and thrive. Of coarse this is a little trickier since probiotics are a little more of new discovery. Not all high fiber foods are equal in prebiotic world. Bananas, onions, garlic, asparagus, wheat bran, leek, dandelion greens, jerusalem artichoke, and chicory root are great prebiotic sources.

So do you need to worry about fiber on a vegan diet? Most likely not. In fact many vegans, especially weight lifting vegans, worry about too much fiber. Some have diet where they have days that are suppose to be low fiber, and it can be a struggle to find vegans foods that fit the bill. Even something that comes off as being full of fat like an avocado is full of fiber. A cup of avocado has 40% of the fiber you need in a day!

So should you be concerned about having too much fiber? Maybe. Some people have medical conditions that limit the amount of fiber they can have. But if you don’t have them you will find out if you have too much fiber in your diet by paying attention to your digestion. If you have lots of gas pains and bloating, you might need to focus on incorporating less fiber into your diet. You may want to add more nut butters, protein powders, tofu, white wheat, milks, and juices.

But keep in mind, too much fiber is pretty rare on the Standard American Diet, and most people need MORE fiber. When working at a juice bar I use to get asked by mother’s all the time how their sons get more fiber. I couldn’t say it, but I should of just said a salad. But I would give them a shake with some psyllium husks in it, which probably got all thick and nasty by the time the son would be able to drink it.


asksnanswers

Alexa is working toward a vegetarian diet, and is loaded with questions. Jennifer’s got answers. We talk about anything as long as it is vegan. Are tattoos vegan? How do I politely not eat Thanksgiving dinner? How do I order without pissing off the waitress? We know you are dying to ask!

asksalexaI’m currently on a diet that limits my soy intake – what are some good soy substitutions (tofu, tempeh, etc.)?

Although I have some beef against some of the anti-soy people out there, I am fully aware some people simply can’t have it. Most of the time it is allergies, but I’ve heard some people say it isn’t the greatest for people how have thyroid issues. But if anyone gives a reason that they don’t eat soy because of the “estrogen” in it, I call them out on it. There is actual estrogen in meat and dairy, and soy has a component that looks like estrogen and sometimes our body reads it.

That being said let’s talk about replacements! Well, there are some basic soy products that people are making substitutes for, so if you still want to partake in them, you can buy soy-free counter parts.

Miso: Many people are using other beans in miso to make them gluten-free and soy-free. They tend to be on the higher end of the price spectrum so keep that in mind. One is a chickpea barley miso from South River and another chickpea miso by Miso Master (this one you will most likely find in stores!)

Tofu: If you are feeling a little adventurous in the kitchen, you can make a soy-free tofu. There are two methods, one is chickpea tofu (or also called Burmese Tofu) and the other uses lentils. It is a little work, but it could fill in the desire for tofu. No major companies make this yet. Try out this recipe using besan or this video for Burmese Tofu and this other that shows you how to use lentils.

There is also a hemp tofu by Tempt. The company is pretty big, but I personally have yet to see their hemp tofu in stores. Take a look around next time you are in a grocery store though!

Tempeh: There are a few places that are now making a soy free tempeh. If you know how to make tempeh, it isn’t hard to omit soy all together. You can use other grains and beans in place of soy. BUT if you are lucky enough there are two companies that make black bean tempeh, Smiling Hara Tempeh (local to North and South Carolina) and Lalibela Farm (which is local to Maine). Take a look at your grocery aisle though, just in case there other companies I don’t know about!

Soy Sauce: Although soy sauce isn’t high in protein, you may still want to have some. A lot of people really like coconut aminos. It pretty much uses the same process as soy sauce only with coconuts.

Faux Products: A lot fake products use soy, but there is almost always a soy-free alternative. For example faux mayo, margarine, faux cheese, etc. Just flip to the back and quickly check, but most of the time they have “soy-free” on the front. They will probably not be as high in protein as their soy counterparts.

So what about other sources of protein? Where else can you get more protein? Well, getting your 10% of protein of your day isn’t hard, but it can be harder if you are trying to get more for weight training. I find myself using protein powders in my shake after a workout for an extra boost. So the need for protein can be a real concern. So where can you get it?

Protein Powders

I’ve mentioned protein powders in the Should I Use Protein Powders question. The three main protein powders out there that are vegan and aren’t soy are pea protein, brown rice protein, and hemp protein. Each has their own flavor and texture profiles. Because of this there are lots of blends out there. I like to shop around, going to vitamin shops, independent health food stores, and major chains so I keep prices in the back of my head. Also keep in mind not all powders are equal. Read ingredients and make sure you can read and understand most of them. I personally find Vega to the tastiest, but Sunwarrior is pretty tasty as well. Again, search around and figure out what you like. 

A cool thing that you can do is mix in protein powders in other foods. For example you can stir some powder in your chia pudding, pancakes (or any other baked good really), parfaits, oatmeals, mashed potatoes, burgers, ice creams, lattes, lentils, soups, pretty much anything. If you are interested in boosting your proteins with powders, I suggest sticking to “pure” one ingredient protein powders and getting unflavored. Seems boring but it will work with sweet and savory.

Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds can be great for extra protein. What makes them particularly great is that you get some nice healthy dose of healthy fats as well, which will help you absorb vitamins from your veggies (yup, you still need fat!) What makes nuts and seeds so great is that there is a lot of variety. Some commons “nuts” are peanuts, cashews, pecans, walnuts, and almonds. But since a lot of people have allergies, you can usually use some sort of seed instead like sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds, or pumpkin seeds. 

Then take it a little further. Lots of seeds and nuts can be made into milks. You can make them at home with a blender and a nut bag, or you can buy them pre-made in a grocery store. They also make many other products like nut butters, yogurts, and nut cheeses (which you can also make at home). Flax, hemp, and chia seeds are particularly great because they are high in omega-3 fatty acids, and have a thickening quality. So if you add a tablespoon to your shake, you can get a nice texture to it.

Lentils & Beans

This is honestly where I get 80% most of my protein. Heck even most protein powders use beans (hello soy and pea protein!) They are cheap and well established in many different cuisines. How you buy them is up to you. You can buy them dried, canned, or frozen. I personally try to buy them dried and freeze any extra to save the most amount of money.

But what can you use beans and lentils in? Well some answers will be obvious, a side, chilis, soups, baked beans, tacos, burritos, rice and beans. You can make your own vegan bean burgers, which there are MANY different styles out there. In the same vain, there are many baked falafel recipes that are low in fat. There are lots of casseroles that use beans, which can vary from tex mex, to greek, so you have lots to play with. Some recipes use beans in pasta, tossed with the pasta, or sometimes blended up in a sauce. You can even make little bean balls to make spaghetti and bean balls. Once you start to look around, you will find the possibilities are endless.

There are also various bean flours that you can work into other recipes. For example if you are making a baked falafel, instead of using whole wheat flour you can use besan, a chickpea based flour. There is even a recipe for a vegan omelette using besan! There are tons of other bean flours that you can sneak into recipes where flour is used. I would stick to more savory recipes. If you sneak them into desserts you will probably have to add more sugar to mask the flavor, and you don’t want to have to do that.

And don’t overlook lentils! They are a little tricky to incorporate since they tend to be a little more “fluid” than beans. They are smaller and tend to be found in soups since they are so fast to cook in comparison. They are great to sub in a recipe that uses ground beef since of their small texture. But if you are a fan of Indian food, you will find lots of “dal” recipes, or recipes that use lentils.

And FINALLY you have your young beans. That would include green beans, edamame (soy), peas (pod peas, snow peas, snap peas), lima beans, fava beans, and cranberry beans. Some of these beans are not as common are hard to find fresh (for example you will most like find fava, pod peas, lima, and edamame frozen) while some are you see all the time (green beans and pea varieties). These fresh beans tend to have less proteins than their dried counterparts. But if view them as a sub for a veggie side, it’s just added protein.

Dark Leafy Greens

Pound for pound leafy greens have more protein in them than meats. Find that hard to believe? Well, it isn’t once you see how much a pound of greens is compared to a pound of meat. I get the issues with keeping greens, they take up lots of space, and sometimes it is hard to think of what to cook with them. I think I would get sick of kale if I steamed it everyday. Some quick ways to get your servings is tossing a handful in your shake every morning. You honestly don’t taste it.

There are lots of dark greens you can incorporate in your diet. The common ones are kale, chard, spinach, and collard greens. The shame is that there are lots more, you just might not find them. For example beet greens are PACKED with nutrition. Bok choy, gai lan (chinese broccoli), tatsoi, and yu choy are great in stir fries. Fans of Italian food might be familiar with broccoli rabe. Mizuna or mustard greens is yet another green that isn’t talked about much. Where do you find half of these rare greens? Farmer markets are great and so are CSAs (mine serves tatsoi and a mix of asian greens). But you can also check out an Asian supermarket, as they tend to have some.

You can use greens in almost any type of dish. Many people make a side dish from them, but you can put them in chilis, stir fries, soups, pastas, or burgers. If you are a snacker, you can make kale chips which usually have an added bonus of nuts in the coating for protein! If you have some greens that are going bad, just juice those motherfuckers! Don’t have a juicer? You can make a green juice from a blender and a strainer. This method is a great way to see if you want to buy a juicer in the end as well. A lot of people like to use collard greens as a wrap. Which is pretty handy for lunches. 

Quinoa

You would think quinoa is a miracle food by how some vegans describe it. Yes, it is a complete protein, and yes it is high is protein compared to rice. BUT, I don’t find it as handy as beans. It has all the issues of rice and grains but none of the good qualities culinary wise. It cooks in small pieces just like grains, but isn’t sticky like them so it is harder to include in recipes like burgers. You can also make it into a flour but has an aftertaste so you can’t add too much of it to a recipe. Yes, quinoa has it’s limits.

But I wouldn’t dismiss it. If you are trying to get a lot of protein in a diet, it is a great replacement for most grains. Technically quinoa isn’t a grain (it’s actually more closely related to beets, spinach, tumbleweeds and amaranth) but it often treated as so in cooking. There are lots of recipes out there for quinoa, ranging from quinoa “mac and cheese” to chilis. A common vegan option is kale and quinoa bowls. I personally like to cook both quinoa and rice and mix them together as a side in dishes or in a recipe.

Seitan

Oh wheat meat! You are so misunderstood. Most people going into a vegan diet accuse of seitan of being totally fake, and only trying to be similar to meat. Well, seitan has been discovered hundreds of years ago in China. You can make it easily by washing flour over and over again till the starches wash away, and you are left with 100% pure gluten protein. Some people find it problematic if they think gluten is bad for the body. There isn’t provable evidence yet that gluten is bad for everyone, but some people are allergic or have trouble digesting it. I don’t eat it often, but I think eating it once a week is perfectly fine. If you are concerned make sure you pay attention to how you feel after eating it.

Seitan is pretty easy to find. You can find it canned in Asian food markets as mock duck (or whatever the else you may possibly want). These are cheap, but I tend to be cautious about them. Read labels and use your own judgement. You can find seitan frozen or in the refrigerator section of most supermarkets. They can be pretty pricey though. So what do you do? Make your own.

Yes making your own seitan is really easy, especially since you can buy vital wheat gluten. There are lots of methods, baking it into logs, boiling it broth, pressure cooker, mixing in tofu, or beans. Possibilities are endless. Some of my favorite tutorials include Vegan Metal Chefs video, which reassures you that you can’t mess it up. Freeze what you don’t use in a recipe, and you are covered for awhile.

Beyond Meat & Fake Meats

I am going to suggest something that is unpopular- fake meats. Half of the vegan community love it and think they are great, and the other half think it is sacrilegious and poison to the body. I personally think they aren’t ideal but not as bad as what everyone makes them out to be.

Now most people think fake foods are made from soy, and that is not entirely true. My favorite company Beyond Meat uses pea protein to build up their “meats”. They try and be as open as they can be without revealing their secret techniques. They have chicken strips, beef crumbles, and now burgers. They are available at Target and Whole Foods (though I suggest Target since their prices are cheaper) and usually they have some sort of coupon on their site.

Field Roast is another brand of soy free fake meats. But basically you’ll just need to take a look around when you go shopping. There are lots of different brands out there and depending on where you live you will have different options available.

Another bonus is that many of these foods have added vitamins that you need in your diet. Examples? Sometimes companies add calcium, vitamin B12, iron, etc to help mimic the nutritional value of meats. This concept also extends to some milks, yogurts, etc. Keep in mind the two brands Field Roast and Beyond Meat might not actually do this.

Alternative Pastas

There are lots of gluten-free and soy-free pastas coming on the market. Well, correction, I don’t know many or any soy based pastas… yet. But there many different types out there. There are black bean noodles, which boasts 25 grams of protein per serving. That company makes even more noodle type such as adzuki and soy bean. I personally like to use quinoa pasta from time to time, though the protein isn’t as high as the black bean noodles, 4 grams of protein per serving.

That being said regular old pasta can be fairly high in protein. Normal run of the mill pasta can have 7 grams of protein per serving, which is pretty dang good. If you pair it off with lentil, beans, kale, or some other source of protein you can reach you protein goals fairly easily.

Everything Else

Okay so as we mentioned in the How much protein do I need post, pretty much everything has protein. And although I am not saying you should just eat whatever you want, just don’t forget to count all the protein in all your food. If you are having a chickpea salad sandwich, I would count up the protein in the veggies, the vegan mayo, and the bread! Yes, all of that. I think you might be surprised how much of that protein comes from other foods.

Anyone else have a vegan high protein food that I forgot to mention?


asksnanswers

Alexa is working toward a vegetarian diet, and is loaded with questions. Jennifer’s got answers. We talk about anything as long as it is vegan. Are tattoos vegan? How do I politely not eat Thanksgiving dinner? How do I order without pissing off the waitress? We know you are dying to ask!

asksalexaBy definition honey isn’t vegan, but I honestly have a hard time giving a crap! What are some good reasons to stop consuming honey and beeswax?

Those damned bees, being so damned productive and good at their damned jobs. Before going vegan I didn’t give two shits about honey or beeswax. I’d pass by stands and give a big yawn. For years I never check honey on my no-no list, and honestly I am sure I didn’t consume that much since I never actively bought honey.

Then I learned about mead and fermentation. I suddenly became obsessed about honey and making mead. It was a miracle drink, one could sweeten a cocktail with more booze! It was amazing. Till one day I asked myself, why should I care about bees? Do we really harm them to farm honey? And naturally I wondered about how “domesticated” honeybees and how they shape the environment. Now I am finding myself eliminating honey from my diet, which I am finding to be incredibly hard.

Vegans have very different views and boundaries, which can cause some arguments in the community. Bees, oysters, and many other invertebrates get the short end of the stick. Many people who adopt a vegan diet for health tend to include honey in their diet. Some vegans will eat oysters and other bi-valves since their nervous system is drastically different, and in theory don’t feel pain. Some vegans would argue that by not eating honey or bi-valves we are drawing clear and distinct lines. Some would argue that we truly don’t know how much pain we are causing to these animals. And some will argue that exploitation is still exploitation.

Humans like to think that the smaller the animal the smaller of a life it has. But insects can have incredibly long and complex lives. For example the queen bee can live as long as seven years while other bees live much shorter lives ranging from a few weeks to half of a year. Bees have complex social systems (like humans) and have a precise way of sharing information through dance. Their dance shares sources of pollen, and will calculate the change of the position of the sun.

What makes honey and bees wax a hard sell to stop consuming is that bees aren’t as adorable as puppies. But in many ways we should find bees very relatable. They have a complicated form of communication, they have a complex social structure, and they probably have a range of emotion. Yes, scientific research is showing that bees have emotions. And it makes sense for an animal to form emotions when they have a strict social structure. And if bees do have emotions, then maybe they don’t like having their wings clipped or being artificially inseminated.

Many people rationalize that bees don’t NEED the honey. Surely there is enough to go around, right? Well, the answer is not really. To put into perspective how important honey is to bees, some species die once they sting an enemy to protect their honey. If the hive is destroyed, the bees quickly gobble up their weight in honey so they can build up their reserves again in their new colony. Anyone who has done beekeeping and have collected honey will tell you that you have to feed the bees with a cheap sugar syrup– meaning we need to replace what we took from the bees.

bee

But what about keeping the bees alive? We are constantly hearing about how bees are dying off and it might seem that honey consumption would be a great excuse to help keep bees alive. But this isn’t necessarily true. At least in the United States, our bees used in farming are not native. They have been imported from Europe, and clearly the flowers and fruit that occur naturally in the US have pollenated just fine. In fact some produce cannot be pollenated by domesticated bees (such as early spring blooms like blueberries), and I am sure if you have been at a farm or CSA, you probably haven’t seen a bee hive. Keep in mind that pollination can be done naturally with bees, insects, mammals, reptiles, birds, and humans.

There is a difference between bee farming for honey production, and pollination. Honey farming probably isn’t what you are picturing in your mind, it more similar to cows, bees are farmed in different ways according to their purpose. The honey we eat comes from bees that are confined to specific crops. Each plant will effect the taste of honey, so humans pick the food for bees. So when you buy honey it isn’t going to help pollenate almond trees. When bees are raised for pollination, it usually implies that their colony will be shipped long distance to pollenate a crop. Sometimes the bees aren’t coming back. A lot of bees get shipped to pollenate almond trees, and they have had negative effects on bee colonies. The dependence of domesticated bees have actually caused a decline of native bees, which are better for pollination since they are less susceptible to diseases.

TL:DR; Honey isn’t vegan because

  1. It doesn’t fit the definition, it is an animal by product
  2. Bees need the honey to survive, and humans provide alternate foods to keep colonies going
  3. Bees colonies are incredibly complex and intelligent
  4. Bees may have emotions.
  5. Most produce don’t need domesticated bees for pollination
  6. Domesticated bees usually lead to declines to native bees, endangering native plants.

As far as I am concerned there are lots of reasons to reduce consumption of bee products. But it can be hard since we eat honey and use beeswax in many other contexts. We rub beeswax on our hands and on our lips. It can also be used in lost-wax casting, candles, art, bow making, sewing threads, shoe laces, etc, etc. The list is so long that it will be featured in next week’s Alexa Asks.