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| Forums: September 2011 Kickstart Forum: New Vegan with A Lot of Questions! | |||
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| cattttt
Joined: 09/08/11 Posts: 3 |
New Vegan with A Lot of Questions! Posted Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 8:47 PM Hi Everyone, I'm feeling quite overwhelmed and emotional about being vegan when I research my questions. I feel great and proud of what I'm eating throughout the day and have no real issues with the vegan diet; the recipes are a lot of fun for me, and they're quite delicious! Both the vegan health and ethical side resonate with me. The following is perhaps less of a "vegan" question but a question about research itself: how do you know the truth about nutrition and diet? Please hear my little story if you have the time. I actually enjoy soy milk. I'm having some acne issues, and much of my research is telling me that soy will create acne or make it worse. I immediately want to nix it and move onto almond or rice milk. But, we're not supposed to be eating too many nuts, and I'm guessing almond milk comes from almond nuts, right? To all you smart, health gurus out there: excuse my ignorance and tell me all the secrets. I just feel conflicted on what I am supposed to be eating and what I'm not. Where do you get your resources from and how do you settle on a decision? We know that the fast-food industry and other media companies promote unhealthy foods to get your money. You could say the same about all natural / vegan companies (I do not personally believe this but I am playing devils advocate to give you a sense of my genuine skepticism). For me, I am giving myself some room to breathe and telling myself I'm trying the vegan diet out without any long-term commitments, to help me lean into it. My family thinks I'm crazy and I'm trying to educate them, but I don't even know everything yet. I've been looking at videos in general (by doctors and average people) and I just watched Forks with Knives last night. The arguments about B12 and protein don't really sit with me because I eat a lot of beans (protein) and fortified cereal and soy milk (B12; well we know that last one is an issue for me at the moment because of the acne and health research). Please give me some words of advice on anything I have mentioned. This is my first time going vegan and the daily emails are very helpful. It's not difficult for me to buy vegan foods or to make new things. What's hard is understanding the truth about veganism as a healthy or possibly the healthiest diet out there. A plant-based, whole foods diet seems perfect because of its nutrients-- but what about when it comes to cooking? Apparently you lose all those healthy nutrients and enzymes. I'm just feeling lost, please educate me and send me resources. Anything helps! Hopefully my next post will sound more positive! This isn't my best writing but I just want to quickly get this out here... thank you. Xo, |
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mollyhorn
 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 582 |
RE: New Vegan with A Lot of Questions! Posted Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 9:45 PM Hey Cat, First, the easy one: Almond milk has nowhere near the amount of fat that actual nuts contain. I drink almond milk (either Silk or Almond Breeze, unsweetened, Plain or Vanilla) on a daily basis. I use it in cereal and for cooking, too. Both are low-calorie for the unsweetened version, and taste pretty good! Acne: Cow's milk dairy and sugar are proven to aggravate acne to a high degree. Most people with chronic acne do well when they remove these from their diet. You are absolutely right about protein, B12 (though most vegans I know take a multivitamin just in case), and you have a great attitude about the health aspects of a vegan diet. You are totally on the right track. I want to address your main point, but have to run... more later! Molly Horn |
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| cattttt
Joined: 09/08/11 Posts: 3 |
RE: New Vegan with A Lot of Questions! Posted Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 9:50 PM Thanks a lot, Molly. I've been reading some of your replies on the other threads here and have been taking notes. I appreciate it. |
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gryphonpro
 Location: Cape Breton, NS, Canada Posts: 239 |
RE: New Vegan with A Lot of Questions! Posted Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 10:08 PM I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Michael Milburn for my documentary, twice actually, and I really like what he has to say in relation to your problem. Basically he says that the health information out there is so confusing because of the western science tendency to break down everything into components, and study them component by component. So, one day something is good for you because one molecule in it is proven to be good for you, but the next day a different study finds that a different molecule in the very same thing is actually bad for you. The problem is that we don't look at what we eat as a whole, and how all the molecules and nutrients and elements of a food, and of the diet as a whole, work together. There are probably thousands of nutrients we haven't even "discovered" yet, but they are all there in our food, working together. If we eat a low fat, plant based, whole food diet, we will get it right. Don't worry so much about individual pros and cons of individual foods if you are getting the diet right, or so Dr. Milburn says. I like his approach. By the way, about acne, someone once told me (because I needed to be told), Madeline, stop touching your face! Having a little pimple once in a while is normal, but if you spend all day with your hands all over you face, trying to cover it up, you are getting a lot of human grease from your fingers all over your face and you only end up with more acne to feel self conscious about. I don't know if this is something you have to be told, but I say it, just in case! - madeline madeline yakimchuk
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| cattttt
Joined: 09/08/11 Posts: 3 |
RE: New Vegan with A Lot of Questions! Posted Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 10:15 PM Thanks Madeline. You cracked me up at the end there. It's true I do pick my face a bit. My acne is around the chin area and spreads a bit outwards. It was caused by stress from college. Can't tell if it's going away with this diet, so when I heard the soy business, I got crazy! My doctor gave me a cleanser and because I've been so focused on my diet and health, I felt uncomfortable with putting chemicals on my face. I looked up information about the cleanser and people were saying it lead to skin cancer and all this jazz. I felt similar to how I feel researching my vegan diet. Simply overwhelmed! Of course, we all just want to do what's right for our body! For now I think I am just going to try apple cider vinegar as a home remedy. Thanks for your response. It's easy for me to become a strict perfectionist once making a lifestyle change! |
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| mollyhorn
Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 582 |
RE: New Vegan with A Lot of Questions! Posted Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 11:54 PM I spent about a year and a half obsessively studying nutrition and diet, researching as much as I could about vegan health, nutrition and so forth, without actually going to school for it. I feel like I've got a pretty good handle on all the various sources of information readily available, though I agree that it's nearly impossible to reconcile them all into one neat little package. So, I'll just give you what I think is my best estimate of vegan health and some links to use. I hope it's useful. The research against soy has been conducted almost entirely by the dairy industry. As in, funded by, publicized, and repeated ad nauseum. The majority of the non-partisan research shows that a moderate amount of soy in the diet, especially in the form of soybeans, tempeh, and organic tofu, is not only not harmful, but is protective against certain forms of cancer. Now, that doesn't mean go out and comprise your entire diet from faux-meat products... you seem smart enough to figure out a good balance. 2-3 servings per day is what's recommended for optimum health. Regarding cooking and nutrient loss: Yes, you're right. Some nutrients are lost in the cooking process. (I try to do most of my vegetable cooking through steaming, water-sautéing or baking, and try to not overcook stuff.) But look at the big picture... you're still eating vegetables! Lastly, here are some of my favorite websites for nutrition information, with notes about each. But (and please trust me on this one, from someone coming out the other side of it), don't let your life be ruled by worries about nutrition. Eat lots of veggies, some fruit, some good beans and whole grains, take a multivitamin just in case, and enjoy the healthiest diet on earth! World's Healthiest Foods - founder George Mateljan is a big proponent of the Mediterranean diet and of olive oil consumption, but this site has the best nutrient index I've ever seen. You can use the site in a variety of way, but I like the "Essential Nutrients" link up at the top of the page. Vegetarian Resource Group - not a vast resource, but some solid info and good articles. NutritionFacts.org - Dr. Michael Greger is one of the leading authorities on nutrition and health, specifically the optimum diet for humans, and his website posts a new short video daily. However, he is at the extreme end of the "as healthy as possible" spectrum, and it would be easy for you or anyone else to become overwhelmed by the "eat this, don't eat that, do this, don't do that" feelings. So, use his information, but with that caveat. A couple of names you'll see pop up over and over are Jack Norris and Ginny Messina. Both are very intelligent, well-read dietitians, but both have their failings. Norris recommends relying very heavily on supplements and vitamins for health, rather than trying to achieve some of those same nutrient goals through diet. Messina is somewhat better, but promotes a higher-fat vegan diet. (Though I like what she's said about soy and some other topics.) Some of the best nutrition information can be found right here on PCRM! Visit their Health pages to find tons of articles on a myriad of topics, all well-written and well-researched. And for the bonus round, a set of video clips from Peter Jennings, via Vegan.com Molly Horn |
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| lisasays
Joined: 09/07/11 Posts: 39 |
RE: New Vegan with A Lot of Questions! Posted Friday, September 9, 2011 at 10:02 AM I have been vegetarian for 25 years and vegan off and on. I cut out all soy and have not had another bad incident in over a year. Part of my issue was that I was eating processed soy products and you should also realize that soy is in EVERYTHING! Bread, cereal, candy bars, crackers, margerine. So you are already consuming soy even if you arent eating "soy products" like veggie burgers and tofu. |
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| Bugsmom
Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2068 |
RE: New Vegan with A Lot of Questions! Posted Friday, September 9, 2011 at 12:46 PM lisasays wrote: Part of my issue was that I was eating processed soy products and you should also realize that soy is in EVERYTHING! Bread, cereal, candy bars, crackers, margerine. So you are already consuming soy even if you arent eating "soy products" like veggie burgers and tofu. What I am trying to say is, I think it's okay to consume some soy in its whole form, but not the processed stuff. Also, look for products that contain soy flour, oil or lecithin and try to buy an alternative that doesnt have it so your daily intake is not so high. This is exactly why I don't eat tofu and such - there's so much background soy in things that having tempeh or tofu or soy milk is too much for my already wacky endocrine system to handle. Way back when, when we got rid of liquid milk in our family fridge, we did a taste test for a few weeks - each week, we'd pick a different plant milk (soy, rice, almond, hemp, whatever else we could find). If there were flavored or sweetened varieties, we'd pick up on those as well - for example, we'd have vanilla sweetened almond, plain unsweetened almond, chocolate sweetened almond during the "almond milk week". We decided to not decide until we'd sampled a variety. BUT after 3 days of having soy milk - and not a lot either, a total of maybe 2 cups over 3 days, mostly just on cereal - I could feel that "PMS" feeling even though it wasn't PMS time. I just stopped it and within about 2 days felt back to normal. We've gradually eliminated a lot of the background soy stuff, but it's still there in the few things we purchase that don't have many alternatives (even the vegan chocolate chips use soy lecithin). So, I just stay away from 'bulk' soy and go on with life. A friend of ours is clinically allergic to soy (the hives, potential anaphylaxis, etc) and her daughter is moving to vegetarian/vegan so having us a resource for non-soy based veg food options has been helpful. --Deb R |
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| lisasays
Joined: 09/07/11 Posts: 39 |
RE: New Vegan with A Lot of Questions! Posted Friday, September 9, 2011 at 12:51 PM Enjoy Life products offer vegan and soy-free (lecithin-ree) chocolate bars and chocolate chips |
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| catbear
Joined: 01/04/11 Posts: 76 |
RE: New Vegan with A Lot of Questions! Posted Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 10:47 AM Hi Kattt, Like Molly, I've spent the past two years since I've gone vegan constantly reading and researching. I'd like to share some books that I've found to be the most helpful for me: Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman The China Study by T. Collin Campbell Food Revolution by John Robbins Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation by Andreas Moritz I wish you all the best on your journey to optimum health! |
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| kiwi
Joined: 01/03/11 Location: New Zealand Posts: 405 |
RE: New Vegan with A Lot of Questions! Posted Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 1:13 AM To add to the above book list - I have found the "McDougall program" very helpful and follow the McDougall way of eating. Its very similar to Dr Barnard and the kickstart - both are vegan and complimentary to each other. The best reference book I have had is: I have had a copy on my bookshelf for years and recently bought an updated version (2006). This isnt a book that one typically reads cover to cover but is a true reference. There are chapters on Water, Carbohydrates, fats & oils, vitamins, minerals, supplements, different diets, detoxification and cleasing programs and more. For example if I want to look up a particular vitamin or mineral it will tell me what it is, how the body uses it and what foods to find it in. This may seem a bit too much information to begin with but I trust the resource. With web sites you have to be careful of those who post information as fact what is truly only opinion and you dont know the qualifications or experience of those posting. Therefore I tend to only follow advice from those who are known such as Dr Barnard and PCRM . Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food - Hippocrates. |
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