Vegan Diet Guy

Natto is an acquired taste for anyone. Even in Japan, aversion to the smelly, sticky fermented soybeans is so strong that foreign residents who like natto are often said to be “more Japanese than Japanese”.

Although relatively unknown outside Japan, for those on a vegan diet natto is a taste worth acquiring, because it’s really healthy: a probiotic rich in vitamins, especially B-12–which vegans often require dietary supplements in order to ensure they’re getting an ample supply.

Long before becoming vegan, I was eating natto stuffed into sushi hand-rolls, called “natto temaki” in Japanese. Wrapped in a sheet of nori, topped with a mound of sliced green onions and doused in wasabi soy-sauce, the aroma and texture of the natto is barely discernible (for a neophyte natto-eater, this is a blessing). You may even be able to find natto rolls in N. American sushi bars.

(more…)

Fast Tube by Casper

Unless it’s every night that another U.S. celebrity talks about going vegan, it sure was a coincidence I happened to see Mike Tyson on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” yesterday.

When I visited the States last November, I caught Janet Jackson on Leno discussing her “on again off again” vegan diet and favorite vegan restaurants, and then Craig Ferguson poking fun at World Vegan Day.

This time around–jet-lagged after being back just 3 days–I was just about to sleep when the late night host announced Tyson would be his next guest. Tyson adopted a vegan diet last May, and (although any reason for giving up meat is a good one) I was curious if the boxer would be discussing what triggered his decision.

Struggling to stay awake through endless commercials, Tyson finally came on to plug “The Hangover Part 2”.  Fortunately for me, within a minute, the conversation turned to his vegan diet.  Looking remarkably fit, Tyson mentioned that he had lost 130-140 pounds since becoming vegan.

(more…)

It’s been a little difficult for me to go back to writing about a vegan diet and new vegan recipes given events of March 11 and the ongoing crisis just 150 miles away in Japan’s Tohoku (northeast) region.

We grieve for those who lost loved ones and property, now staying in evacuation shelters and perhaps unable to return to their homes. Indeed, thousands have had their towns decimated, or made uninhabitable due to radiation. Countless farm animals and pets were swept away, and many roam in the perimeter of the reactors, without food.

Trivial by comparison are the psychological effects of those indirectly affected, and others who now realize they are living near active earthquake zones, coastlines, or more than 50 nuclear power plants in Japan: (more…)

Ethical vegans may object to those who adopt a vegan diet vegan for health reasons alone and other incremental measures toward veganism espoused by popular media.

Rather than expecting carnivores to give up their Western diet habits overnight, “Veganist”, the latest book by Kathy Freston, health and wellness expert and author of “Quantum Wellness”, encourages people to “lean into” the vegan lifestyle.

According to Freston, who became vegan 7 years ago, “Taking small, manageable steps toward the changes we want to achieve has a more profound effect than trying to radically alter any one behavior.” As an example, she cites how she first gave up dairy products, then gradually became vegan by giving up eating one animal at-a-time.

Freston goes on to discuss the benefits of vegan eating including effortless weight loss, reversal of disease, environmental responsibility, and spiritual awakening. “These are just a few of the ten profound changes that can be achieved through a gentle switch in food choices.”

For those who discovered vegan diets as adults and took months or years to completely give up eating animal products, it makes sense that the greatest potential for change is in our daily actions: (more…)

I always try to keep a batch of these protein bars in the freezer to give me a little boost following my workouts. They remind me of Clark Bars, although the last time I had one of those was decades ago. I suspect if I tasted a Clark Bar now, I’d prefer these. Without a doubt, they’re much more nutritious, too!

The recipe is from Bob’s Red Mill, and uses Bob’s 5-Grain cereal. While Bob’s doesn’t call these vegan (unfortunately, many of their recipes aren’t), they can easily be veganized by replacing honey with maple syrup. They take less than 30 minutes to make, and are really handy for eating after a workout or for a convenient and nutritious low-calorie snack. (more…)

You often see high profile vegan coaches and chefs coming clean about how they have fallen off the wagon: If they’re raw vegans, they may have eaten something cooked, while those on a vegan diet may have eaten something containing animal products.

Adopting a vegan diet made me extremely conscious of what I eat, so eating non nutrient-rich plant-based foods, or even healthy ones to excess–is also falling off the wagon for me.

After using an online meal planning system for a few months to ensure I was getting enough nutrition from plant foods alone, I became much more aware of the size of the portions I should be eating, too.

For example, in the past, I would eat much of a 1lb bag of nuts (chips, popcorn, etc.) by the handful–out of stress or while distracted–without realizing that a “proper” serving size was a single handful, or around 2 oz. (56g). Not long ago, I thought people who weighed their meals were a little whacky, but  now I use my kitchen scale often to keep me on track. At least I don’t carry it around with me, or I’d really be off my trolley.

Recently, I stumbled upon “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think” by Brian Wansink, PhD, which described an experiment demonstrating how movie-goers ate more popcorn if served in a bigger bag, regardless of whether it tasted good or not. (more…)

Been thinking about your New Year resolutions?

Perhaps you’re considering going on a vegan diet, but can’t see how you’ll ever get there. Maybe you’ve dreamed about running a marathon, too, but abandoned it as impossible?

If so, just think of the expression by William Arthur Ward:

“If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.”

Five short years ago, I had not begun a vegan diet, nor had I run more than an occasional 1-2 miles on the running machine (staring at the wall at the fitness club, it felt like a death sentence). Growing up, I had been a miserable athlete, skipping all PE classes from the 9th grade to save myself embarrassment.

Just as a plant-based diet often begins with small steps, such as avoiding meat one meal a day (or one day a week) or eliminating a single kind of meat from your diet, until you’ve actually begun running, it’s totally natural for you to believe you’re not capable of getting in shape to run a marathon. (more…)

Fast Tube by Casper

Recently, when I told a new acquaintance I was vegan, he said that explained why I look emaciated. He was just out of university, making him roughly 25 years younger than me. At first, I felt offended, then pondered writing an “Emaciated Bastard” Cookbook.

Just by coincidence, someone sent me this video, “Sugar-The Bitter Truth,” which says people in modern countries weigh 25 lbs more on average than 25 years ago. It dawned on me these statistics probably don’t apply to the majority of vegans, even guys like me who have only been vegan for a few years.

Recall the October CNN interview where Bill Clinton reported his weight and waist-size were the same as when he was in high school, after only a few months of his having begun a plant-based diet? Indeed, PETA’s website confirms that adult vegans weigh 10 to 20 pounds less than adult meat-eaters on average. (more…)

Long before all the controversy over the health risks of eating movie popcorn, I would smuggle my own popped corn into the theater because it was fresh and healthier, not to mention economical (OK, cheap!). Paired up with a large cup of icy-cola, my 6-quart brown grocery bag of popcorn was usually empty before the opening credits!

Eaten in moderation, popcorn is certainly one of the more healthy snack foods, especially when air popped (contains only 30 calories vs 150 using oil and butter), and with little to no added salt. Even when you haven’t the time to see a movie, you can enjoy popcorn as part of a nutritious meal, rather than bingeing on it as a snack. (more…)