Certainly one of the neat things about blogs is that it's now possible to get a much better understanding of how and what other vegans are eating. Admittedly, I find this a mixed blessing. We can readily exchange new ideas, approaches, and techniques for creating healthy low-fat vegan recipes and interact with each other. But, on the flip side, we can also see some real mistakes and, I believe, inconsistencies in pursuing a healthy vegan lifestyle.
For example: I just read a post about a vegan pepper pasta dish that has roughly 20 grams of fat per serving (a whole day's worth of fat, a la Esselstyn, or, Fed viewpoint: 1/3 of a total day's worth of fat per serving). That's from 3 tbl. of olive oil "on top" of 4 tbl. of congealed Earth Balance fat (didn't account for soy milk or tofu). Gaaaaack.... However, the posting that got me writing this entry was about (1) an advisory about a cool new pair of non-leather boots or shoes, and (2) mention of a new faux cheese that "was stringy." Why did I find this problematic?
Well, that "cheese" from Daiya has 5.5 grams of fat per 2 tbl. (whole milk mozzarella: some 6 grams of fat per 2 tbl.). The average serving of pizza contains about 1/3 cup of cheese, or, if you will, a little over 5 tbl. As such, if using that faux cheese in amounts most people would, that single serving of pizza would have 27.5 grams of fat (440 calories, more than 1,000 mg of sodium). And yet Daiya has the huevos to call it "nutritious" while 50% of this product's calories are from FAT. Even more ironic, said blogger learned about the stuff at a PCRM event... WTF? PCRM's leader, Dr. Neal Barnard, has written often about no-added fat low-sodium vegan diets, diabetes, health, and even gave an award to Esselstyn for his research on no-added fat vegan diets and reversing/preventing heart disease.
But wow... gee whiz... it's stringy... guess some people are more concerned about the ingredients of what they wear than about what's in the food they eat. The Daiya website has a lot of words about what isn't in their products, but no info (other than nutritional analysis) about what is. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'll bet that the fat comes from added oil, a non-whole food in their self-proclaimed "whole-food plant-based products."
Anyway, we all make our choices. Me? I'm less concerned about a food product being "stringy" than the added oil in it that would contribute to and promote heart disease, diabetes, and all the other stuff I keep writing about. We need to get past those bad ol' taste and texture addictions, and start remembering to study the nutritional labels on ANY vegan product, paying particular attention to the "unholy trio" of fat/oil, sodium, and sugar... and always remember that someone or company saying "it's nutritious" doesn't make it so. After all, for how many years did many of us believe the hype that meat, dairy, and/or eggs were "wholesome" and/or "natural?"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20090401/hl_hsn/thedarksideofvegetarianism
Mark -- Love your blog...have you seen this article? What are your thoughts?
Angela W.
[Only have time for a quick skim (didn't realize comments weren't getting through my spam filters and suddenly there's a backlog to answer).
I think there are some valid points about kids being unknowledgable at times about how to go veg in a healthy fashion, let alone may attention to their unique nutritional needs in early years.
That being said, it needs to be balanced with nutritionists who may know know as much as they think they do, those that are biased, and the percentage of kids who would have eating disorders under any condition.
Being informed goes a long way, and the Internet can be a double-edged sword regarding "what's healthy" and "what's not."
Bottom line: one can be a health veg'n or an unhealth one, and it's important to understand the difference and eat accordingly.
One of the reasons I complain about the added fat that so many vegans seem oblivious to.
Thanks for your comment and link... Best, Mark]
Posted by: Angela W. | 2009.04.01 at 16:55