Category Archives: Nutrition

Are you staying well?

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Most of the country is currently seeing the worst flu outbreak it’s seen in years.  It’s a top story every time you put on the news, alerting that it’s “Not too late to get your flu shot!”  But for people like me, and I assume for others who are vegan, I do not get flu shots.  It’s not because I want to tempt fate, but more because the darn thing isn’t vegan and is tested on animals.  Ever since I became vegan more than a year and a half ago, I’ve chosen the natural way.  Once things start looking bleak regarding the flu and cold season, I spring into action and begin my natural defense regimen.  After all – food is medicine!

In addition to my regimen that is my go-to, here are a few more wellness tips that I like to prescribe to:

  • Using gloves while on public transit.  Bacteria and viruses can live on surfaces longer than we’d like to admit.  One person coughs on that pole?  That pole is now infected.  Bonus tip:  Have to touch the metro card machine?  Use the knuckle of your pinky finger, then “Han San” right after.  
  • Han San!  Hand sanitizer.  I found a great organic, vegan, cruelty-free brand: EO.  EO has a great line of hand sanitizing products.  I’m partial to the Lavender sanitizer spray, but the peppermint is nice as well.  You can order online or find it at most natural foods stores.
  • Nasal irrigation with a Neti Pot.  Nasal irrigation is great because it gently washes your nasal/sinus passages out – a major gateway for bacteria and viruses to enter!  Nasal irrigation is also great for people who have chronic sinus problems.  Note:  I wasn’t able to use a neti pot properly until I went vegan.  My sinus problems were SO BAD that even a neti pot couldn’t help it.  Thankfully, since I’ve given up dairy, my sinuses have been in such better condition!
  • Miso soup.  The vegan’s chicken noodle soup!  Miso soup has an alkalizing effect on the body, which is a great boost for the immune system.  It’s a fermented product, which is fantastic for your gut flora’s healthy bacteria.  You can easily make this at home if you buy a container of miso.  A couple spoonfuls dissolved in some hot water should do the trick.  You can get fancy and add some seaweed and soft tofu, too.  But sometimes I’ll just dissolve some in a mug and drink it straight up!  I particularly like this when I have a sore throat.

Here are some vegan-friendly resources to find some flu/cold prevention tips.

Health Happy Life:  Vegan-Friendly Wellness Foods

Spark Recipes:  Vegan Potassium Broth

The Kind Life:  10 Tips for Curing a Cold

Cure-All Tea Recipe

Hardcore Vegan:  Hardcore Cold and Flu Remedies (warning:  F-bombs a-plenty here!)

The Sistah Vegan Project:  Kick That Cold’s Butt, Vegan Style

What are your favorite stay-well tips?  Vegan wellness site recommendations?  Please use the comments to discuss!

*DISCLAIMER!  I AM NOT A DOCTOR OR NATUREPATH!  THESE ARE ALL METHODS THAT I HAVE FOUND TO WORK FOR ME!*

A Compassionate Holiday

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The holiday season is upon us and I would like to take this opportunity to encourage compassionate choices for your holiday meals.  It’s easier than ever to find recipes for delicious compassionate culinary creations!  Here at Jersey City Vegan, I strive to help bridge the gap for those who want to make a change but just need an extra nudge.  I hope to make the holiday gap a little easier by sharing The Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary Thanksliving Recipe Book that I created for the WFAS Thanksliving benefit.  Within the booklet you will find enough recipes to create a complete and compassionate Thanksgiving meal.  Everything from appetizers to main dishes, family favorites veganized and perhaps something new to you, the recipes will feed a party of six but can easily be doubled. 

Click here to download the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary Thanksliving Recipe Book by The Jersey City Vegan

Me, Boone & Sarah L of A Life Vegan (www.alifevegan.com) Photo by Derek Goodwin

What are your favorite compassionate holiday dishes?

The Vegan Pantry

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“I just saw Forks Over Knives! Help me!”

So, you want to make the meatless transition, but don’t know where to begin?  Don’t you worry your pretty little face… you’ll be surprised to learn that the majority of what you already have in your cabinets is most likely vegan.  Aside from your known dairy and meat products, you’ll have to go through your cupboards and check out every label.  It’s shocking to learn how many processed food items contain milk products, so set those items aside to donate to a local soup kitchen.   We shouldn’t be eating so many processed foods anyway.  From now on, you’ll make it a habit to check the ingredients list of every processed food item you might purchase.  A good habit to get in to, don’t you think?

Rices, spices, oils, vinegars, pasta (eggless!), grains, oats, all of these items can stay.  If you aren’t sure if the item is vegan, again, just read the label.

Next, take a look at my suggested list of pantry staples.

  • Beans, canned (or dried) - garbanzo, black, pinto, etc
  • Grains - quinoa, brown rice, etc
  • Nutritional Yeast
  • Ground flax-seed or flax-seed meal
  • Dried fruits of all sorts
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Earth Balance butter
  • Assorted selection of fresh and frozen organic fruits & veg at all times!
  • Soy or nut milks
  • Tofu
  • Tempeh
  • Seitan
  • Soy sauce/tamari
  • Vegenaise  (vegan mayonnaise — so yum!)
  • Salsa
  • Nuts and seeds – raw cashews, raw almonds, sunflower seeds, pistachios, macadamia nuts, etc.
  • Vegan sugar (aka not white sugar, which is processed with animal bones.. YUCK! Sugar in the Raw, or another comparable sugar will be what you want to look for)
  • Vegan cheeses (Daiya, Follow Your Heart)
  • Egg replacer (such as The Vegg)
  • Miso (white)
  • Dried sea vegetables* (nori, wakame, dulse)
  • Vegetable bouillon/stock

*avoid Hijiki at all costs! It contains large amounts of arsenic! Blech!

The biggest change you will notice is the switch out of dairy items with their non-dairy counterparts, and the addition of tofu/seitan/tempeh and other assorted “faux meats”. That’s it!  Most of the items in my list can be found in a non-vegan kitchen as much as a vegan kitchen.  After all, it is all food that everyone should be eating anyway.  So, take a deep breath, it’s all going to be fine.  Just think – you’re going to be making such a huge impact for the environment, the animals, and most of all, your health.

Are you a reader who is already vegan?  I would love to hear what items are pantry staples in your home.  Let me know in the comments section!

The Vegan Three

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Lets get something straight right off the bat: vegans are at no more a risk of vitamin or mineral deficiency than omnivores. A well planned vegan diet is eleventy kabillion times more nutritional than your average omnivore. The American Dietetic Association has even stated:

“It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life-cycle including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence and for athletes.”  (Source: ADA – eatright.org)

Ok so maybe it’s not eleventy kabillion times more nutritious, but typically, “Average vegan diets tend to be deficient in three nutrients, whereas average omnivores tend to unfortunately be deficient in seven.”  Dr. Michael Greger explains it best:

So what three nutrients do vegans need to be conscious of?  The Vegan Three, in no particular order:

  1. Calcium
  2. Iodine
  3. B12

Some folks may argue protein and Vitamin D to be in that list as well.  So I’ll discuss those  two, too.

Calcium
 Calcium = milk, right? Naw.  That’s so Dairy Council of you!  We’ve been brainwashed from such a young age and for so long that if we don’t “Got Milk” we’re gonna get osteoporosis and suffer from calcium deficiency.  Not true at all.  In fact, the US has such high rates of osteoporosis and other bone issues despite the fact that we consume so much dairy.  I could go on and on about the ickies of dairy, but that’s a whole blog entry in itself.  After all, calcium isn’t naturally found in milk — cows (are supposed to) eat grass.  Lets just go straight to the source, yeah?  Where vegans get their Calcium: kale, broccoli, collard greens, and fortified nutmilks and tofu.  PLUS!  Calcium in kale and broccoli is absorbed twice as well as the calcium in milk.  So booyeah to that!

Iodine
You mean, salt?  Say what?  No, actually most folks get their iodine from dairy products because cows teats and milk storage containers are cleaned with an iodine solution that then seeps into the milk.  Geeee-ross, right?  Folks don’t need a lot of iodine in their diets (only about 150 micrograms a day) but its important for thyroid function.  If you use salt in your cooking, use an iodized salt.  Or,  add sea vegetables to your pantry.  A sprinkle of Sea Seasonings once in a while on your salad should do it.  Finally, you can always take a supplement.

B12
This one I will give to the omnivores.  Yes, this is vitamin typically cannot be found in a vegan diet without consuming a supplement/fortified food.  You know why?  Because it’s a bacteria that is found in the digestive tract of animals that is absorbed into their bodies which are then eaten by folks who eat them.  So how do we non-flesh eaters get our B12?  Fortified soy/nut milk or cereals, Nutritional Yeast (more on the delicious Nutritional Yeast forthcoming) sprinkled on salad or pasta, or a supplement.  I take a B12 supplement 3 times a week as well as Nutritional Yeast sprinkled on my salad every day.  I’m a fiend for Nutritional Yeast.  It’s totally yum.

Protein
I hate to even acknowledge this, but will because it’s probably the most common question I ever get asked.  There is protein in EVERYTHING!  There is protein in all vegetables!  Protein in tofu.  Protein in soy milk, beans of every shape, size, and color, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, oatmeal, pasta, broccoli, corn, etc. etc. etc.  If you eat a varied and complete vegan diet, protein is the least of your concern.

Vitamin D
 The first things people might think as to where you can get vitamin D is either the sun or milk.  Vitamin D is actually not found in any foods naturally.  The vitamin D that is found in milk is there because its been added in via supplement into cow’s feed.  Ten to fifteen minutes in the sun during mid-day hours is a great way to get your vitamin D.  If you can’t manage that, your fortified nutmilk or cereal will contain parts of your daily intake as well.  Or if you still are nervous, you can also take a supplement. (I take one!)

If you’re interested in learning more about vitamins and minerals in a vegan diet (which you totally should!), check out the book Vegan for Life by Jack Norris, RD and Virginia Messina, MPH, RD. This is my nutritional bible. Its comprehensive, easy to understand, full of charts and graphs and all the bells and whistles to help you learn and feel confident about your nutritional intake.

I must disclaim: I am not a doctor or nutritionist! All of the information I have presented here I’ve gathered from reading books by professionals. It’s all ingrained in my noggin from having to recite the answers for the inevitable 20 questions vegans get asked about their nutrition. Please do your research, read the book I recommend, and absorb as much as you possibly can on this topic.

Tofu isn’t scary.

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dun…Dun… DUNNN!!!!! Tofu. So many folks get very nervous with the mere mention of it. Not to worry – I’m going to show you how AMAZING this protein is and how it is not scary at all!!!!

What is it? Simply, its soybean curd pressed into a block shape. It can often be fortified with calcium, making it a great source for the vital nutrient (as well as being a source of vitamin B and iron). It can come in different varieties – silken, soft, firm, extra firm – making it versatile to use in a wide array of recipes from smoothies to soups to stir-frys to bar-be-que’d on the grill.

Here’s my advice: extra-firm tofu and buy it in bulk. I’m lucky that my local bulk retailer offers a 2 pack of extra-firm tofu for four bucks. I pick up 2 packs of that per week. At least. You’re going to bake one for use in your salads, one will be your weekend tofu scramble, and two will be used as your protein for dinner a few nights.

Now, some commonly asked questions about tofu:

  • What do I do about all this water in the package?

Tofu is packed with water so it doesn’t dry out. This is remedied very simply. Got paper towels? Good. On a dinner plate, layer a few sheets of paper towel. Place your block of tofu on the plate. Layer a few more sheets of paper towel on top of the tofu. Now, put another dinner plate (or platter) on TOP of the tofu to create a make-shift press. Let it sit for about twenty minutes to drain. OR you can invest in a tofu press. They run about $40, but with the amount of tofu you’ll be eating, it will pay for itself within a month. Here’s the one I have and love it – Tofu Xpress.

  • Do I just cook it in this big block shape?

Sure! You can marinate the whole big block with some tamari or other favorite sauce and bake it in the oven. OR, you can cut it in half horizontally, so you have two rectangles, about a half inch high. Then, cut those rectangles in half diagonally, making two triangles. It should look something like this:

Something to look forward to: recipe for tofu parmesean! But also a great example of what tofu cutlets could look like.

Voila! Tofu Cutlets. OR, after cutting horizontally, cut them out into circles using a small juice glass upside-down…and Voila! Tofu Scallops. Your creativity is key. You can’t mess it up, so don’t be scared to experiment.

  • Tofu has no flavor! Why bother?

Wha-wha-wha-whaaaaaaa?! Stop the train. Tofu can be full of flavor — it all depends on what you to do it! You can marinate it, bread it, bake it, pan-sear it, bbq it. Seriously, whatever you did to your chicken, fish or steak, you can do to tofu. I’m not kidding! Tofu will take on any flavor you put on it. Sucks it right up like a sponge and is totally versatile.

  • Can you freeze tofu?

Yes! And please do. I’ll usually freeze a block every now and again. This will change the texture of it, making it a bit more chewy and a lot spongier (as in, will soak up even more of the flavors you use on it). Just freeze it directly in the container you purchase it in. When you’re ready to use it, set it out to defrost that morning, or run it under some water to soften it up. You can microwave it for three minutes on each side to assist if needed. And then drain it just like as described above. You’ll see that it drains a LOT more this way. So totally freeze some tofu every now and again and give yourself a texture shake-up.

So go forth to your organic grocer and pick up a nice extra-firm block of tofu for dinner tonight. Follow my tips, use your favorite marinade or sauce, and most of all, get creative and have fun. See?! Tofu TOTALLY isn’t scary.