Where are you on the VEGAN SPECTRUM???
Life is not static... rather than a photographic snapshot, it is more like a movie.
Change is the only constant. There is no real destination but the journey itself.
These truths not only apply to life itself, but to each of the individual paths we each choose.
If you choose the vegan path or journey you will find yourself on a sort of spectrum ranging from being a vegan initiate (beginner) to becoming a sort of vegan master (veteran). The fun part is learning and experiencing it all along the way. A major component of this journey is to enjoy the experiences and keep them in perspective.
I post vegan information on my facebook page almost everyday. The purpose is simply to share vegan education, products, restaurants, stores, and anything else I think people might be interested in regarding the vegan journey. The funny thing is periodically I will get some criticism, you know how facebook is. Most of the criticism comes from what I call "holier than thou vegans". They might find fault with a product and say it isn't healthy. My answer is almost always The buyer will decide where they want to be on the vegan spectrum, they might be doing it for their health, or possibly the environment, or the animals. The other day I posted pictures of a beautiful selection of vegan cheeses. One of my followers got on and said they are not good products and basically said we shouldn't eat cheese, vegan or not. My response is that people love cheese and choose to eat it (I do). It all depends where you are on the vegan spectrum as to how you make your decisions.
Remember the PEAS acronym for vegans...Physical...Environment...Animals...Spiritual'''
Highlighting the four major aspects of veganism. It's part of the journey. Where are you on the spectrum regarding the four aspects?
Talking about the vegan spectrum I find it very interesting than non vegans or very beginners want to know what a vegan eats. I find that almost everyone is currently part vegan in what the eat. Look at the average dinner (a salad, a potato, some meat, a roll). Interesting enough 3 out of 4 items are vegan. Oatmeal for breakfast with almond milk is vegan, and on it goes. The point being most people currently eat a lot of vegan food (plant based) and don't even think about it. Switching to almond milk, cashew cheese or veggie burgers, even an occasional "chicken" veggie nugget might be the next step moving along the vegan spectrum.
No one is a perfect "10" vegan, so don't take it too seriously. If you drive a car your oil, gas, and tires are all animal based products. You might have a leather belt or couch, don't look back, look forward, do the best you can moving forward, and definitely don't drive yourself, your family, or your friends crazy. Make good choices for you as you move along the vegan spectrum.
What you mean when you say "I am vegan", is that I am on the vegan journey meaning I am someplace on the vegan spectrum. Keeping this in mind will help you along the way.
May Peace Be With You
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Friday, December 6, 2019
VEGAN DIET - HEALTHY OR NOT
Almost everything you read or hear is that a vegan diet is in fact healthy for you...
Well not so fast, grasshopper!!!
The term "discriminating" means having good judgement. This is in fact essential when you construct a vegan diet. We must have good judgement when selecting what foods to eat, as well as how much too eat and when you eat it.
Here are a few examples to ponder. Let's go to the movies, buy your ticket and buy some vegan snacks... Here are a few vegan choices, popcorn (made with partially hydrogenated soybean oil, yikes), topped with vegan butter flavored GMO canola oil, oh oh, with a nice vegan sugar laden Pepsi, or maybe some Skittles, Sour Patch Kids, Red Vines or potato chips, all vegan. On the way home stop at the hamburg stand and get vegan french fries and a Coke for everyone. What a great vegan feast ...right?
As you can see all of these "food like substances, "(yeah right) are very unhealthy even though they are in fact considered vegan. This is where we must be discriminating. When converting to a vegan diet it is not enough to simply "not eat animals"or "animal products" but, we must discern between nutritious and non-nutritious (healthy and not healthy) foods.
Dr. Bernard Jensen taught three major rules regarding food selection. Consume your foods in the following 3 ways.
1. WHOLE
2. PURE
3. NATURAL
WHOLE - try to eat the food in it most unprocessed state. When you are selecting and preparing your foods try to consume it in it's most unprocessed state. For example whole olives are better for us than olive oil, whole dates are better for us that date sugar, while a whole apple or carrot is better for us than a peeled one.
PURE - you know by now that organic means no herbicides, pesticides, GMO's. You know also that clean water not stored in BPA plastic containers is the best to consume.So as you see Dr. Jensen suggested we eat and drink as clean as we can
NATURAL - As much as we can we should try to eat things in their natural state, for example whole grapes more that grape juice, fresh raw sauerkraut rather that pasteurized sauerkraut and fresh raw corn on the cob rather that corn chips. Best to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible rather that processed. Of course some things must be processed to get the benefit, such as reishi mushrooms, but the idea is to do the best we can
.
Dr. Jensen would always say that " it is what you do most of the time that really counts, not what you do now and then". Was a wise man.
So as you see a vegan diet can be extremely healthy, or not so much, based on the choices and decisions you make. If we consider Dr. Jensen's three rules we see that a vegan diet can be optimally healthy. I believe more so than any other diet on the planet. Dr. Gabriel Cousens calls a 70-80% raw vegan diet the optimal evolutionary diet for mankind and the planet. Many other leading doctors such as Dr. Esselstyn and McDougal agree with these concepts and eating philosophies.
So in summary a balanced variety of vegan foods put together in a thoughtful manner is YES INDEED, a very healthy diet practice. So be discriminating, keep it real , keep it as much as whole, pure and natural as you can and you will maximize your vegan eating plan.
May Peace Be With You...
Well not so fast, grasshopper!!!
The term "discriminating" means having good judgement. This is in fact essential when you construct a vegan diet. We must have good judgement when selecting what foods to eat, as well as how much too eat and when you eat it.
Here are a few examples to ponder. Let's go to the movies, buy your ticket and buy some vegan snacks... Here are a few vegan choices, popcorn (made with partially hydrogenated soybean oil, yikes), topped with vegan butter flavored GMO canola oil, oh oh, with a nice vegan sugar laden Pepsi, or maybe some Skittles, Sour Patch Kids, Red Vines or potato chips, all vegan. On the way home stop at the hamburg stand and get vegan french fries and a Coke for everyone. What a great vegan feast ...right?
As you can see all of these "food like substances, "(yeah right) are very unhealthy even though they are in fact considered vegan. This is where we must be discriminating. When converting to a vegan diet it is not enough to simply "not eat animals"or "animal products" but, we must discern between nutritious and non-nutritious (healthy and not healthy) foods.
Dr. Bernard Jensen taught three major rules regarding food selection. Consume your foods in the following 3 ways.
1. WHOLE
2. PURE
3. NATURAL
WHOLE - try to eat the food in it most unprocessed state. When you are selecting and preparing your foods try to consume it in it's most unprocessed state. For example whole olives are better for us than olive oil, whole dates are better for us that date sugar, while a whole apple or carrot is better for us than a peeled one.
PURE - you know by now that organic means no herbicides, pesticides, GMO's. You know also that clean water not stored in BPA plastic containers is the best to consume.So as you see Dr. Jensen suggested we eat and drink as clean as we can
NATURAL - As much as we can we should try to eat things in their natural state, for example whole grapes more that grape juice, fresh raw sauerkraut rather that pasteurized sauerkraut and fresh raw corn on the cob rather that corn chips. Best to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible rather that processed. Of course some things must be processed to get the benefit, such as reishi mushrooms, but the idea is to do the best we can
.
Dr. Jensen would always say that " it is what you do most of the time that really counts, not what you do now and then". Was a wise man.
So as you see a vegan diet can be extremely healthy, or not so much, based on the choices and decisions you make. If we consider Dr. Jensen's three rules we see that a vegan diet can be optimally healthy. I believe more so than any other diet on the planet. Dr. Gabriel Cousens calls a 70-80% raw vegan diet the optimal evolutionary diet for mankind and the planet. Many other leading doctors such as Dr. Esselstyn and McDougal agree with these concepts and eating philosophies.
So in summary a balanced variety of vegan foods put together in a thoughtful manner is YES INDEED, a very healthy diet practice. So be discriminating, keep it real , keep it as much as whole, pure and natural as you can and you will maximize your vegan eating plan.
May Peace Be With You...
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