SoulVeggie

Dr. Cow's Cheese Nutritional Bull

Just read a post about Dr. Cow's Cheese from the generally nutritionally oblivious blogger at:

http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/11/dr-cow-tree-nut-raw-vegan-cheese.html

The blogger wrote, quoting directly from the Dr. Cow's website, that the "cheese" is low fat.  Note that the product's website provides NO nutritional information on their products (just ingredients, why?).  How does she know it's "low in fat?"  She just posted some of the website text.  How useful!  What a fine bit of research in recommending this product.  She even had the audacity to claim she was posting the "complete nutritional info" regarding the cheese.

Bull$hit.  What's the fat and sodium content per serving?  Information not available.  I couldn't find it doing basic web searches.

The cheese?  It's basically ground up nuts.  And if mostly cashews, for example, than two tablespoons (1 ounce) would amount to 12 grams of fat.  I'm guessing twice as much for a normal serving of that "low fat cheese."  That's about a third of a day's worth of fat according to the American Heart Association (on a 2,000 calorie diet, 60 grams of fat per day), and a day's worth according to the guys who reversed heart disease through diet (Dean Ornish and Caldwell Esselstyn).

This kind of mindless parroting of a product's website PR without a little bit of research into the actual nutritional profile of a product being reviewed irritates the hell outta me.  Kathy should be ashamed by making such "low fat claims" and that she's either too lazy or doesn't care enough to do better.  IMHO, one shouldn't take ANY food product review seriously unless the reviewer has shown some respect for his/her readers and done the basic nutritional profile research and provided same.

Just because it tastes "gud" and the product's website says it's "healthy" isn't enough.  I'd like to think that most people are smarter than this.  And Dr. Cow is negligent in not providing nutritional information about their products.  Kat is negligent in buying into it.  It's NOT low-fat.  Can't be, judging from the ingredients list.

It's not the taste that matters, it's what's IN what you eat that does.  Read the labels.  Ignore the silly blogger.

Vegan Heart-healthy Spiced Potatoes Au Gratin Recipe

Check it out:  another great no-added fat recipe from Susan that shows it's really easy to make a heart-healthy happy vegan potatoes au gratin without adding needless fat in the form of tofu sour cream, earth balance, "cheese" slices, veganaise, and a vegan buttery spread as the recipe after her's below does:

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/03/creamy-scalloped-potatoes.html

Ironic that some think a highly fat-ladden multi-potato layered gratin with a ton of added fat is "elegant" or "is a home style comfort-food recipe with some serious snob appeal. Potatoes gone chic." (from:

http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/11/triple-spiced-creamy-potatoes-au-gratin.html

What a myopic view of nutrition, health, heart-safety, and food in general!  Heart disease, when I last checked, has little "chic" or "serious snob appeal."  The added fat in this recipe would make even the conservative the American Heart Association collectively squirm.  That a blogger claims his/her recipes are a "must read" and are "healthy" and are "chic" is indicative of the blogger's ego --- a good sign of a narcistic attitude that is often mistaken as enthusiam to be trusted.  Certainly isn't a sign of nutritional savvy and informed advice.

But, in this case, it must be nice to be so indulgent as to purchase three types of potatoes from non-local sources, highly processed fake cheese (which is really just added fat), tofu sour cream, a buttery spread, veganaise, and create a high-fat meal around them.

Ain't real food ('cept for the potatoes), ain't happy, ain't sustainable.  Let the "serious snobs" go with the cardiovascular disease.  Me?  I'll go with the certain, peer-reviewed science of "no-added fat" vegan diet and a longer healthier happier life.  I'd rather avoid all the problems shown to be associated with added fat than be "chic."

After all, isn't life worth living well?  That's REAL elegance.

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...

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

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.

Protein: Continuing the Myth & Ignoring Other Sources

I figured that by now, any reasonable vegan would know that the Myth about our needing to worry about where we get our protein is just, for the most part, a myth.

So here comes a blogger who's listing a "Top Ten Protein Sources" for vegans... claiming "power" and "resistence to disease" from said protein, and, while not mentioning what the recommended amount per day might be (which varies quite a bit from the more respected vegan nutritionists, to the WHO, to the overstated US Fed recommendations), proceeds to list these sources and their "protein" per serving amounts in grams (with no sense, again, of what the daily recommended total might be, and that it varies with age and gender):

• Tofu:  8 g
• Edamame:  4 g
• Soy milk/yogurt: 7 g
• Tempeh:  22 g
• Pea Soup:  8 g
• Whole Raw Nuts: 5 g
• Field Roast Vegan Sausage:  12 g
• Hummus:  2 tbl -- 1 g
• Spirulina Powder:  1 tsp -- 2 g
• Hemp Milk:  4 g

Now, I've no quibble with some of these being reasonable, although some are high in fat (as the blogger notes), but here's my ad hoc "TOP TEN" list, showing how narrow those recommendations are, and how that blogger's post stokes the myopic illusion that tofu, beans, and nuts focus are the only ways to meet your protein needs (stats source):

• 1 serving broccoli (cooked):  8 g (more than, or equal to EIGHT of that top ten )
• 1 baked potato:  7 g  (more than, or equal to SIX (almost eight) of that top ten)
• 1 cup brown rice:  5 g  (more than, or equal to FIVE of that top ten)
• 1 cup quinoa:  8 g  (more than, or equal to EIGHT of that top ten)
• 1 cup millet:  6 g   (more than, or equal to FIVE of that top ten)
• 1 cup chard (cooked):  3 g   (more than, or near FOUR of that top ten)
• 1 cup turnip greens and chopped turnips (cooked):  5 g  (more than, or equal to FIVE of that list)
• 1 cup kale (cooked):  2 g (beats the hummus and spirulina powder)
• 1 cup rye:  25 g (tops EVERYTHING on that top ten list)
• 1 cup of buckwheat:  23 g  (tops EVERYTHING on that top ten list)
• BONUS:  1 cup cornmeal:  9.9 g  (tops EIGHT of that top ten)
• EXTRA BONUS:  2 slices homemade whole wheat bread:  8 g
• EXTRA EXTRA BONUS:  1 serving whole wheat spaghetti:  7 g
  

And get this, what I've listed above, for the most part, have less fat, contain more useful nutrition (broccoli in particular), maybe fiber, higher quality, similar quantity of protein, and are generally cheaper.  What's not to like?

In any case, here's a link to an excellent article by Dr. McDougall about the topic of "protein," and here's a link to a "high" mainstream view of protein RDA.):

Finally, the the address of the post I'm discussing (said blogger won't let me link from here to there, for some inexplicable reason):

http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/10/get-more-vegan-protein-power-up-top-ten.html

Bottom line:  sure, you get get protein from nuts, beans, seeds, algae.... but don't forget that you can also get it from a variety of vegetables and whole grains.  To suggest, omit, or imply otherwise, just promotes a mind-set and ignorance that the Meat/Dairy Food Corporations (and some bloggers) encourage to our nutritional detriment.

NOTE 8 hrs. later: comments were inadvertantly turned off (bad new TypePad interface).  They are back on.

A "Mighty O" Heart Attack

A usually interesting vegan blogger today was praising "Mighty O Donuts" in Seatte.  To quote the blogger:

"Their donuts are all vegan and organic. Because there are no animal derived ingredients they are cholesterol free. Mighty O's are made locally, right in the shop and contain no trans fats, artificial colorings or ingredients and are calorie free."

Well, let's glom the nutritional numbers see if we can figure out what the little kid shown in her photo is actually eating.  Sure, it's going to be essentially flour, fat, oil, and sugar (that's what's in a donut).  I'm guessing it's the "peanut sprinkles" chocoloco (BTW: most of the other donuts are much HIGHER in the numbers below).  They don't note the fat content of the peanut sprinkles.

Here's the numbers and percentages for a 2,000 calorie a day grown ADULT:

FAT:  16 grams (almost a third of the total fat for an adult for a day a la Federalists, essentially full-day for Esselstyn and Ornish (who've reversed heart disease:  14 to 24 grams of fat per day)

SAT FAT:  7 grams (about 35% of what the American Health Association recommends for AN ADULT)

SUGAR:  16 grams of sugar (a little under half what the AHA recommends daily for ADULT MEN)

Wonderful.  At least, as the website notes so loudly, that their donuts are "organic," "clean," "non-gmo," and contains "nothing artificial.  After all, we wouldn't want a dirty heart attack.  What the are doing might sound noble ('environmental," "free trade," yadda yadda yadda...), but in reality they are making and selling a highly addictive and decidedly unhealthy VEGAN processed food fat, sugar, and oil delivery vehicles.

...and some wonder why are kids are showing such high obseity and Type II Diabetes rates!  It ain't just because the're not vegan, kiddos.  It's the glazed or sprinkled ticking nutritional time bombs served with a smile.  But, since the saturated fat can feed Altzheimer's, maybe they'll forget about it later.

Here's the company's "core values" (no direct link, badly designed Flash navigation):

• "Respect for individuals, community, and culture" (but we don't care if our products are nutritionally useless and promote heart disease, diabetes, Altzheimer's and obesity)
• "Respect for nature and the environment" (except for your cardiocascular system)
• "Recognize that continual improvement is necessary for our growth and existence.  Be innovative."  (...find new ways to package fat, sugar, salt, and flour, with a high profit margin, to sell to taste addicts)
• "Preserve modesty as an essential tenant to serve others" (WTF? Well, maybe it's "clean" modesty)
• "Be truthful.  Recognize that our success is based on more than profits." (that's true!  It's based on selling fat and sugar-ladden flour products with nano-nutritional value that significantly increase the odds for a shorter life span, while feeding the buyer's addictions)

It's also ironic 'cause they list a ton of artificial food-like ingredients they are avoiding and even include a link to a webpage about "Food Additives" that can cause cancer.  Pity they've missed the heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and Altzheimer's potential from their "natural" ingredients (oil is natural?  I've yet to see an "olive oil" well.).

Transcend your taste bud's addiction to fat, sugar, and salt... transform them into discriminators of REAL food, and not such deep-fried or baked sugar, fat, and flour nutritionally vapid nonsense as "Might O" Donuts.

That's PRESERVING LIFE... and being seriously RESPECTFUL to your body and to those people that love you.  Your health is based on more than taste... And that's the recognizable truth.