SoulVeggie

50 Ways to Lose Your Ticker

Wow... here's a "vegan" blogger going "whole hog" on promoting added fat  (a nutritionally useless non-food, Vegenaise) in your diet, by having the dietary callousness to list 50 ways to add fat to what you eat, labeling this effort "creative and yummy, " and in effect, demonstrating a stunning complete obliviousness to the many heath issues that have been shown to be problematic with all that added fat:

http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/11/fifty-yummy-uses-for-vegenaise-spread.html

Sure, let's ignore 20 years of peer-reviewed research regarding added fat & heart disease, as well as the American Heart Association's recommendations regarding added fat.  After all, you're being "creative" and this is all "yummy."  Right?

How bad is this?  Vegenaise is 9 grams of canola oil fat per tablespoon (about a half a day's worth of fat from the guy's who've reversed heart disease, Ornish and Esselstyn) and one sixth a day's worth of fat as advised by the American Heart Association.  Kat lists fifty ways to ADD FAT (Vegenaise) to your food...  Obesity, heart disease, and a host of physical disorders plague society, and she's is advocating adding more fat to your diet 'cause it tastes good.

My favorite is:  "50. Eat it with a Spoon..."

That's not funny.  It's sad.  To Kathy, all that matters is that it "tastes good," regardless of the impact that added fat can have on your cardiovascular system, brain (Altzheimer's,), pancreas (diabetes), and overall health (obesity).  Added fat-related disorders are bankrupting health care and destroying the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of people, and she gleefully advocates adding "vegan mayo" to oatmeal cereal for breakfast (#46), yogurt (#14),  as a dip for tempeh (#21), with pancakes, (#36), and in sorbet (#37).

Check it out.  It doesn't get more ignorant than this.  Another "must see" post by probably the most nutritionally misleading and myopic "vegan" blogger on the Internet.  And she has the audacity to egotistically self-proclaim her ideas on adding fat to everything but drinking water as "uber-creative."  Yeah, right.

I suggest that "uber-oblivious" might be a more accurate description.  "Uber-deluded" a close second.

Anyway, have a "healthy happy life."  Ignore Kathy's advice at "Healthy Happy Life."  You'll live longer, happier, and with greater chanes of avoiding Heart Disease, Altzheimer's, Obesity, and Diabetes.  After all, can someone really take the advice of a fat addicted blogger who recommends putting vegan mayo in sorbet seriously?

Ruining Broccoli: Making the "Best" the "Worst"

Broccoli is, indeed, a super vegetable.  What a nutritional profile!:  Antioxidents, calcium, protein, vitamin A, C & K, fiber --- the whole biochemical kit'n'kaboodle is fantastic.  Imagine my surprise when a vegan cook manages to take a superb no-fat mega-vegetable and transmute it into deadly pieces of cardiovascular killing shrapnel.

Over at "Super Vegan" (here), our cook dips each broccoli flowerette into Veganaise, sprinkles on some Nutritional Yeast, and then broils 'em all.  We're talking around a tablespoon of Veganaise per broccoli flowerette.  The photo of the "dish" shows 8 flowerettes.  Why is this a problem?  At 9 grams of pure fat per tablespoon/per flowerette (1 gram of saturated fat), that broccoli has been magically transformed from an incredible, essentially no-fat, and totally healthy product of nature into a total of 72 grams of artery-clogging added fat for the one serving (even at 1 teaspoon of Veganaise per flowerette (not likely), it's still a total of over 26 grams of fat per serving).

To put this into perspective:  the ENTIRE Denny's Grand Slam Breakfast (no vegetables in sight!) is around 50 grams of fat.  The guys who've, independently, reversed heart disease (Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn) recommend 14 to 24 or so grams of fat PER DAY, and even the stodgy American Heart Association recommends no more than 60 grams of fat TOTAL per day (2,000 calorie diet). That broccoli now contains around  8 grams of saturated fat which is about half what is recommended by the American Heart Association for women per day.

Wonder full, healthy, tasty, nutritionally dense, broccoli... slathered in pure non-food fat, saturated fat, and broiled.  Well over a whole day's worth of fat in a side dish.  Hardly "the best" broccoli recipe as claimed, and pretty high in the running, imho, for the absolute worst.  No longer a "super food" by any stretch of the imagination and a pretty sad example of how something so healthy (and vegan) can quickly be turned into quite the opposite.

Bleech...

Dirt Candy & Rip Esselstyn on "Protein Myth, Moderation"

I'm still amazed at vegan bloggers who focus on protein issues and/or promote excessively high added fat/oil recipes (most recently, "Chef Amanda Cohen's Veggie Power Girl's Dirt Candy Greek Salad Recipe" that clocks in at over 60 grams of FAT per serving (a whole day's worth of fat according to the Feds, 3 to 4 times what Dr. Esselstyn would recommend per day):

http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/10/chef-amanda-cohens-veggie-girl-power.html

... Amanda's the founder of the "Dirt Candy" Restaurant.  Hell, I'd rather eat dirt candy than her "powerful" heart attack special salad.  I didn't even factor in the "8 cups of canola oil" to fry the "2 Trumpet Royal Mushrooms" in (I'm not joking, 8 cups... that's a half gallon of oil).  IMHO, she deserves recognition only as a vegan chef who's apparently oblivious to the well-documented incredible negative impact of fat and saturated fat on the human biosystem.  Is she serious?  A half-gallon of oil for frying two mushrooms?  That's insane.

Anyway, in related repose, I've been thinking about some things Rip (author of, "The Engine 2 Diet" and son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn) had to say in my Mad Cowboy Interview with him (posted yesterday).  Rip's a solid believer of his father's research that reversed heart disease and advocates no added fat in your vegan diet.  Of note:

On the Issue of Protein:

M:  "In your book ["Engine 2 Diet"], you also list a bunch of the myths of a plant strong diet.  What would you say is the biggest one amongst these myths?"

R:  "I'd have to say the biggest one is protein. I get asked about that at least twice a day.  I just say that if your consuming enough calories you never have to worry about getting enough protein."

On the Issue of Moderation:

R:  "With my Dad, that message is perfect.  Depending upon whom I'm speaking to, I'll hit the moderation.  I was speaking to a group of firefighters the other day, and a guy asked me: "How much red meat can I have a week?  Isn't everything in moderation fine?"  I'm like, no, you know what? The whole phrase "everything in moderation" is why we're in such dire straits right now in this country.

One of the things about "Engine 2 Diet" is that what Howard is doing, my father's doing, and McDougall, Ornish and Fuhrman are doing, is we're trying to create a whole new paradigm in health and weight loss.  To me, every other diet program out there concentrates solely on the outside of your body instead of what's inside your body.  To me, we're creating beauty from the inside out."

To further quote Rip, vegetable oil is "synthetic goo."  It's not real food.

Now keep in mind, those are the words of a Professional Vegan Firefighter and award-winning Triathlete.  His father's 20+ years of peer-reviewed research has shown how to reverse heart disease with a no-added fat vegan diet.  One of the only two documented researchers to do this (Dean Ornish is the other). 

Who are you going to trust and believe in, a nutritionally ignorant blogger and/or vegan chef, or the guys out there doing it and proving it in real life?  Heart disease is the biggest killer of people, vegan and non-vegan, male or female, in this country.  And it's not the only chronic disease associated with too much added fat in your diet.

Go vegan, and go no-added fat vegan.  Your body will be healthier, happier, and the odds are that you'll live longer.  That's real power, and it's independent of gender.

Full Interview with Rip here.  Interview with Rip's father here.

Video: "Don't Have a Cow, Mankind."

Amusing sub-60 second clip from The Simpsons about Krusty's new "Burger Squared," admittedly a crime against nature.  Ironically, it's what people who eat hamburgers from fast food restaurants are currently consuming. The "Mad Cow" Special...  Enjoy!  (Note:  what's Howard Lyman's relationship to the Simpsons?  He was invited to speak to the writers and as a result, Lisa became vegetarian! Here's what he had to say about it all (from a previous post))

Latest Mad Cowboy Newsletter - Rip Essy Interview/Recipes

Here's the Intro, Table of Contents, and a Direct Link to the latest Mad Cowboy Newsletter:

LINK:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/message/88

"10_19_09:  Engine 2 Interview, Mutant Milk, & SpiderVeg"

Howdy! Welcome to the 67th issue of the Mad Cowboy Newsletter.

In this issue we're proud to present a Mad Cowboy Interview with the amazing vegan firefighter/author, Rip Esselstyn. Rip's the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and has built upon his father's remarkable research via some very practical and easy-to-do ways in his diet/exercise/lifestyle book, "The Engine 2 Diet."  There's also three of his recipes for you to try!

Moving on further, there's articles about Mutant Milk, how saturated fat enables Altzheimer's, some surprising statistics on what we eat, Brainfood at the White House, a great new position paper by the ADA on the Vegetarian Diet, and more about that same diet reducing cancer risk.

Continuing in this edition, there's the intriguing proposal for a 50 year Farm Bill, 70 pages of solutions to our agricultural woes, the real cost of food, the new composting mandate in San Francisco, how animal abusers are losing, AETA is winning, new math contrasting a vegan diet with a carnivore's, and the Amazing SpiderVeg!

... as always, a tip of the hat to our new subscribers: y'all can browse past issues at the Mad Cowboy Newsletter Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/

Here's hoping everyone is warm, and to quote Rip: "plant strong" this Winter!

Mark, MC editor/webmaster

***********************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00: Quote(s) from Howard
01: A Mad Cowboy Interview with Rip Esselstyn
02: Three Recipes from "The Engine 2 Diet"
03: The Vegan Mind-Bender Contest Winner/Challenge!
04: Mad Cow Info Round-Up
05: Mutant Milk, Fat & Altzheimer's, US Fatter, What We're Eating
06: Brainfood, Veg Diet Reduces Cancer & Chronic Disease Risks
07: The Digital Vegan
08: 50 yr Farm Bill, Ag Solutions, Real Food Cost, Composting SF
09: Animal Abusers Lose, AETA Wins, Veg Math, Spider Veg!
10: Howard's Schedule
11: Quick Bytes
12: Closing Thoughts

Top 10 Items Sold At Grocery Stores 06/2008 to 06/2009

[Cited data from an article (with graphical chart) by Mark Bittman, "What We’re Eating."  Sales are ranked by dollars (in the billions).  A very sobering view of the Standard American Diet and how shortsighted it is that this and related preventative issues aren't part of the current "Health Insurance" debate debaucle: 

              ITEM                                         SALES ($B)                             % CHANGE
1.)  Carbonated Beverages                      $12.00                                         1.86
2.)  Milk                                                     $11.20                                        -8.44
3.)  Fresh Bread & Rolls                             $9.57                                         4.77
4.)  Beer/Ale/Hard Cider                             $8.17                                         5.42
5.)  Salty Snacks                                        $8.09                                         9.75
6.)  Natural Cheese                                    $7.64                                         7.75
7.)  Frozen Dinners/Entrees                       $6.13                                         0.18
8.)  Cold Cereal                                          $6.11                                         2.12
9.)  Wine                                                     $5.49                                         3.72
10.) Cigarettes                                            $4.63                                        -2.18

SOURCE: INFORMATION RESOURCES INC. (IRI)

Boo! Hiss! Scaring New Vegetarians about Protein

It's really disturbing to see a vegan blogger, when asked about becoming vegetarian, still groups foods into "protein" and "non-protein." [See: http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/10/ask-kathy-can-i-go-veg-with-my-food.html]  This is such an amazing fallacy.  In a previous post (about the same blogger) I noted many non-legume, soy, and wheat gluten, sources of proteins in plants and grains (all vegetables, fruits, grains, etc., have protein, btw). 

IMHO, she should have told her it's not a big worry, and that a diet full of grains, legumes, and vegetables will be more than sufficient.  But to suggest that there are many non-soy, mainstream options on the Whole Foods shelves? Why not mention any good produce department as well?

Instead, promoting the myth about having to worry about protein is not giving good, reliable, or accurate advice to the would be newbie.  Here's some useful opinions:

"Should I be worried about getting enough protein on a vegetarian/vegan diet?  No, not as long as you're taking in enough calories. Official recommendations suggest that eating 8% of our daily energy as protein will provide an adequate amount. National and international recommendations for protein intake are based on animal sources of protein such as meat, cow's milk and eggs. Plant proteins may be less digestible because of intrinsic differences in the nature of the protein and the presence of other factors such as fibre, which may reduce protein digestibility by as much as 10%. Nevertheless, dietary studies show the adequacy of plant foods, as sole sources of protein as does the experience of healthy vegans of all ages... it is easy to see that plant foods can supply the recommended amount of protein as long as the energy requirements are met. The short answer is: "No, sufficient protein can be obtained by eating a variety of foods..."  [The International Vegetarian Union's FAQ]

"11. How do I get protein on a vegan diet?... "  Protein is an important nutrient required for the building, maintenance, and repair of tissues in the body... As long as the diet contains a variety of grains, legumes, and vegetables, protein needs are easily met."  [Dr. Neal Barnard, PCRM  in "Reversing Diabetes"]

"Myth #1: Plants are low in protein:  Plant foods are generally abundant in protein. For example, lettuce gets 34% of its calories from protein, and broccoli gets 45% of its calories from protein. Spinach is 49%. Cauliflower is 40%. Celery is 21%. Beans range from 23% to 54% depending on the variety. Grains are 8% to 31%. Nuts and seeds are 8% to 21%. Fruits are the lowest at around 5-8% on average.  If you wanted to suffer from protein deficiency, you’d either have to seriously restrict total calories (i.e. starve yourself), or you’d have to eat a really messed up, unbalanced diet like nothing but low-protein junk foods and certain fruits. But in those cases, protein deficiency probably won’t be your biggest risk.

Personally I’ve never met anyone suffering from protein deficiency in the USA, vegan or otherwise. The much greater risk (in the USA at least) is overconsumption of protein."  ["The Great Protein Myth."]

"Often when people consider going on a vegetarian or vegan diet, they are concerned about getting enough protein. Your diet cuts out all meat and dairy so how do people get protein?:  It's important to know that there is no such thing as protein deficiency if you're eating enough calories. If you look at the largest animals on the planet they get all the protein they need by eating green leafy vegetables. I talk about this in the book. Mother's breast milk is 5% protein. We as human beings can only use about 12 percent of our calories from protein. It's the one maco nutrient we cannot store. It's a non-issue as long as you're eating enough calories"  [Vegan Firefighter, Rip Esselstyn, author, "Engine 2 Diet"]

So, I'm hereby calling on Kathy to PLEASE stop with the continued promulgating of the fake and erroneous so-called "vegetarian" or "vegan" protein issue, and to stop emphasizing protein in any diet or from limited sources.  It's so wrong, unscientific, and negligent of dietary reality; it's not helping the cause and is instead, perpetuating an unnecessary anxiety for those considering a healthier, happier, and longer life through a vegan diet.  That they learn the truth is important, and what you wrote misses much of it. If you really care about helping people, then give them the "whole" story, and not just what sounds like corporate "Whole Foods" PR.

"A Vegan Zombie's Vegan Twinkie'

In a short article about how Woody Harrelson, while acting in his new movie, "Zombieland," insisted on vegan twinkies made from corn with no sugar.  Says Woody:

"I'm not a Twinkie lover. I don't do sugar or dairy either. When we finally shot my Twinkie-eating scene in the movie, they had to give me a specially made mock Twinkie made of corn meal. It could spur a healthy Twinkie revolution."

The author of the article then recommends a vegan twinkie recipe from Schmoofood & Vegan Lunchbox (here).  How unfortunate.  I've blogged about the clever author of Vegan Lunchbox years ago when it started out, but in recent times I stopped reading her blog for the most part when she was praising "Pringles."

Anyway, I checked out the "Schmooed Food" twinkie recipe and did the math:  28 grams of vegan olive oil/shortening/margarine fat per twinkie, and a whopping 52 grams of sugar per serving.  Oh, and there's 7 grams of saturated fat per twinkie.

Put into perspective:  Ornish & Esselstyn (who've reversed heart disease) recommend between 14 and 24 grams of fat per day (around 10% of your total calories), the Feds no more than 60 grams of fat per day.  Regarding sugar:  the American Heart Association recommends no more than 37 grams of sugar PER DAY for an ADULT man, and no more than 16 grams of saturated fat per day for an adult woman.

Wow... a day's worth of useless added non-real food fat, a half day's worth of saturated fat, and over a day's worth of sugar in ONE "healthy" vegan twinkie.  Now imagine the physiological effect on a child's body.  Reminds me of some dialogue from the 1984 movie version of "Ghostbusters:"

"Dr. Egon Spengler: I'm worried, Ray. All my readings point to something big on the horizon.

Winston Zeddemore: What do you mean, big?

Dr. Egon Spengler: Well, let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. Based on this morning's reading, it would be a Twinkie thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds.

Winston Zeddemore: That's a big Twinkie."

Fitting too, that one actually "injects" the filling into the twinkies.  That's not unlike injecting sugar and fat into your cardiovascular system when you eat one.  And It's ironic that the standard definition of the Hebrew term "shmoe" is essentially a "stupid" person.  But regardless, there's just no way I'd ever eat this schlock, vegan or not.  It's a nutritional short-range missile with multiple warheads of fat, saturated fat, and sugar.  Best to avoid it's negative impact on your body and target instead, real food.

[BONUS: check out the excellent summary article concerning oil, it's impact on your body, and cited articles, at the "Happy Healthy Longer Life" blog.  For a graphic of a real vegan zoombie, click here.]

[NOTE 10/16/09:  Happy Healthy Longer Life Blog link fixed... apologies!]

Consciously Deep-Fried Butter @ The State Fair of Texas

The Award-winning Deep-fried Butter (article), (award) was not a surprise (I lived in Dallas).  But it's not much worse than the "Conscious Chef" recipe I evaluated in my previous post.  To wit:

• Let's assume a stick of butter is cut-up, breaded, and deep-fried for the Texas State Fair award-winning appetizer.
• The self-proclaimed "Conscious Chef" (noted in my previous post) fries a breaded meat sub in oil, fries udon noodles in oil (and drizzles oil over them), and then uses 1/2 cup of Earth Balance to make a mushroom sauce.
• Here's the revelation:  that 1/2 cup of Earth Balance, in fat grams, is the same as 1 stick of butter.

CONCLUSION:  the "Conscious Chef" has created a gourmet vegan entree (minus as much, but still high saturated fat), that is pretty much (or more) as totally fatty and unhealthy as the Texas State Fair's Award-Winning "deep-fried butter."  He's using, amongst the other fat additions,  the equivalent of well over a STICK of butter, in terms of fat grams, for his "beautiful and filling" vegan entree.

Wow.  Both recipes are creative ways to insult your cardiovascular system and promote gawd knows what other physical ailments.

It's ironic that we laugh at the "deep fried butter," and praise the intrepid vegan chef's work, when in fact, both attempts are pretty much similar in being nutritionally blasphemous to our bodies when ingested.  At least the vegan chef is honest enough to admit that to him, "fat is flavor."  Yet, both "chefs" know full well it's a taste addiction.  "Frying the butter" versus "frying in butter" is of minimal differential.  Both cater to taste addication.

How "conscious," and more important, healthy, is this?  Why is it that a vegan chef's recipe is, in terms of fat, pretty much as bad as a State Fair's Award-winning "Deep-fried Butter" and still promoted on a popular vegan blog?  Are we so desperate as to be excited about some vegan recipe or a Chef getting Oprah-attention that we ignore evaluating the recipe or body of work from nutritional criteria just 'cause we're so happy to see something vegan?  Too simplistic and narrow-minded.  We must do better than this.

Ultimately, imho, "Moderation kills" (Esselstyn, Campbell, and McDougall).  Going vegan isn't the answer, but going very low-fat vegan, and re-calibrating your fat receptors, is.  Let's stop praising recipes just because they are vegan, and instead, extoll them because they are both vegan AND healthy.

Let's be truly "discriminating."

The Unconscious Cook & "Fat Equals Flavor"

Vegan Chef Tal Ronnen is "known for his convincing Oprah to try going vegan," but when a fav vegan blogger posted a video cooking recipe of his, I was stunned to learn more about his approach to vegan cooking.  An excerpt from the blog post:

"Tal Ronnen, the notorious chef that got Oprah to [try to] go vegan [and failed], shares his enticing, unexpected vegan dishes with everyone who relishes eating beautiful, flavorful, and filling food. In the Conscious Cook every recipe delivers on his promise to omnivores and foodies: “You won’t miss the meat.”" [but the added fat will still mess with your cardiovascular system]

Okay, I decided to check out Tal's video for "Chicken Scaloppini."  I won't embed it on my blog.  It's horrendous and I can't justify promoting his cooking and attitude. I've check out some of his recipes on Oprah's blog... bleech...  But here's the YouTube link cited by The D.B. and then my ad hoc comments/observations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9A3ahO_t_8 

Here's some comments and quotes about/from the video:

First of all, he's using Gardein Chicken Fillets, and I won't fault him for the ridiculous expense of spending $4 to $5 for 2.5 oz. of 11 grams of protein per serving (hell, you could get 4 lbs. of lentils or 3 lbs. of tofu for the same price).  See this post for more on protein issues.

Okay, in the video, he dredges the cutlets in flour, and FRIES them in OIL (fat).  Is excited that he can "cook it like a traditional protein."  Ignoring that there are many vegetable and grain sources of protein that don't need to be dealt with like "meat."  Figure at least two TBL of oil (probably more):  24 grams of fat.  It's so clever!  He's doing all the same things he would have done if the "protein" was "veal" or "chicken."

He makes a mushroom sauce.  About a half cup of Earth Balance processed goop is added (judging from the video, he doesn't say how much).  That's about 88 grams of fat.

We're already at a total of an estimated 112 grams of fat for a 4 serving dish.  He praises Earth Balance (which is essentially pure fat, and not a real food):

"A lot healthier than butter or margarine."  [not a helluva lot if you consider heart disease]

Then, in a classic moment, justifies using it:

"Fat equals flavor."  [what a narrow and addicted perspective... you are a slave to your taste for fat and probably oblivious of what even the conservative Feds say about fat ingestion and heart disease, diabetes, and obesity]

Fries the udon noodle cakes.  In oil.  Pouring oil over them.  Add another 2 TBL of oil here (I'm being kind):  24 grams of fat.  Running total:  136 grams of fat.  Then, this amazing statement, that tells me he has no idea as to what a healthy vegan diet is:

"Traditionally, people have focussed on creating low-fat vegetarian food.  And, ah, fat does equal a lot of flavor... so I've kinda taken the other approach in using really good and healthy fats.  So if you focus on the "center of plate protein" have have some really good fat, you have a vegetarian dish that is more fullfilling than something you might have eaten in the 70s, like a plate of steamed vegetables and a sandwich with hummus and sprouts, or something like that.  Hippie Food."

The chef is dietarily clueless.  I'm guessing around 30+ grams of unnecessary added fat per serving of his dish, which is ONE HALF of the total daily fat recommended by the Feds for a single person, and over 100 % of what Essy, Ornish, et. al. (the guys who reversed heart disease)  recommend is where's this is at.  Is "fulfilling" more important than promoting degenerative diseases via excessive fat consumption?

"Fat equals flavor?"  Tal says this a couple of times in the video. Even the American Heart Association would be disturbed by his attitude and approach.  And Esselstyn has shown you can lose your taste for fat.

Is Tal really that blind regarding consuming fat and heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and Altzheimer's?  The fat grams in his single dish are amazing...  But then, even ONE fatty meal messes with your blood vessels for over six hours.  The Discriminating Brute was so "discriminate" as to note that "Chef Tal" is known for his beautiful, flavorful, and filling food (at least the word "healthy" wasn't erroneously slipped in there).

Hell, I'd definitely go with (and relish) the "hummus and sprouts" sandwich and steamed vegetables he dismisses in the video as "hippie food" before eating his excessive heart-attack special added fat-ladden fried entree.  The "protein-centric" view he speaks of is also so retro and, with all due respect, nutritionally myopic.  No wonder Oprah went "off the vegan wagon" if this guy was advising her.  Hardly a whole foods and systems approach to diet.  "Fat equals flavor?"  What a shallow perspective of food preparation.

Fatty non-vegan recipes substituted with a "vegan meat" but still, with all the added fat, imho, are not any kind of achievement to praise.  The addiction continues.   Not really an impressive or "conscious" or "discriminating" concept.  Substituting a meat analog while continuing the excessive use of added oils common in "high end culinary cooking" is harding an advancement in health.  It's "unconscious" of dietary reality.  We're killing ourselves via added fat, sugar, and salt.  Tal's vegan recipe is pretty much as unhealthy as the non-vegan equivalent.

IMHO, a "conscious cook" would take the "health characteristics" of a meal into consideration and act accordingly.  Stop with the added oil and the dellusion that "fat adds flavor."  That's akin to saying to an alcoholic that "vodka adds life."  People are addicted to the taste of fat, salt, and sugar, and that's irrespective of their being vegan or not.  Don't cater to it.  Help them get past this... learn the subtleties of taste and flavor that are beyond gross fat... that would be conscious, compassionate, AND creative.  Not to mention, healthy.