Vegetarian and Vegan living tips

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Comment by Christina Newman on January 15, 2009 at 2:45am

I am a raw foodist and look forward to what everyone has to share in this group! Here is a video from youtube channel for anyone interested in some basics

Comment by JR on December 26, 2008 at 8:26pm

Organic living. Last week I purchased my first organic toothpaste and underarm deodorant. I purchased these out of a general sense of, while I have the choice and mindfulness to do my best for myself, then I should. The toothpaste is free of fluoride, while the deodorant is free of paraben, aluminum, and propylene. Dr. Oz radio show gave me an alert about fluoride and its conflicting affect with iodine. Prior to the purchase I didn't know all the advantages to choosing the organic products, but some later investigation proved I made a better choice. The products I purchased also are not tested on animals (this supports my vegan intentions).


below are snippets on the controversies on those chemicals
Aluminium has been established as a neurotoxin.[9][10][11] Aluminum itself adversely affects the blood-brain barrier, it is capable of causing DNA damage, and has adverse epigenetic effects.[12][13]...

One school of thought, advanced by the studies of researcher Dr. Phillipa Darbre, hypothesizes that particular substances in deodorants, such as preservatives called parabens, or salts such as aluminum chloride used in antiperspirants, get into the bloodstream or accumulate in breast tissue, where they enhance or emulate the effects of estrogen, which stimulates the growth of cancerous breast cells.[29][30] The ACS and other scientists consider these studies to be early and inconclusive, but merit further research...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deodorant


Propylene glycol is as a humectant, which means it keeps substances from drying out, and it was originally developed as an anti-freeze. Today it's used in paint, dog food, floor wax, and you guessed it, many deodorants. Propylene glycol is neurotoxin known to cause contact dermatitis, kidney damage, and liver damage. http://www.achooallergy.com/article-toxic-chemicals.asp

an excess accumulation of fluoride in the body can lead to demineralization of bone and tooth enamel, to a toxic condition called fluorosis. Bony changes, characterized by osteosclerosis, exostoses of the spine, and genu valgum, usually are seen only after prolonged high intake of fluoride in adults. These changes occur due to the fact that fluoride is not biodegradable and it accumulates in the body and bones resulting in a toxic or poisoning effect. http://www.cuprident.com/fluoride.php

-namaste, jr

Comment by JR on December 19, 2008 at 8:32pm

This week I found udo's oil with a special DHA formulation. DHA is great for a relaxed mode and mental clarity. It comes from omega-3 fatty acids. I use to take cod liver oil or fish oil for DHA/EPA until I became a vegan; I hadn't had a vegan substitution for DHA/EPA until now.

Since taking this new udo's oil DHA formulation I have been more positive and relaxed. Anything/everything that can keep you with a high vibration and is helpful or necessary to your body is a win-win. -namaste

Comment by eliana on November 25, 2008 at 10:16pm

thanks

Comment by JR on November 24, 2008 at 9:00pm

Yesterday I made my first chocolate, gluten free and vegan cake. People loved it. I loved it and there was very little leftover.

I substituted the butter for olive oil. A trick I learned during this substitution is that 2/3 cups of oil equals 2/3 cups of butter. (extra light olive oil adds the least olive oil flavor to the cake (when compared with regular olive oil).

Comment by JR on November 24, 2008 at 8:51pm

Wow, hooray Eliana, I am happy that you have been a vegetarian for 2 years. This is beautiful that you care about the food that you eat, at such an young age. Good job.

Comment by eliana on November 24, 2008 at 8:17pm

hello. i am 12 years old and i have been a vegetarian for 2 years

Comment by JR on November 19, 2008 at 11:32pm

It's interesting the subtle improved difference in your body when you eliminate the foods that your body doesn't like. I think I might have nut and gluten intolerance. I enjoy the ways that I have improved mental clarity when I don't have them in my body. Gluten is subtly in many things though it originates in wheat, rye, barley and oats. My lip balm, rice milk and boca burgers I found to have gluten. I am happy for finding improvement to my life. namaste, jr

Comment by JR on November 13, 2008 at 11:19pm

I forgot to add links to sources I used in my recent post.

How to Self-Test for Allergies

Top 20 Food Allergies with Delayed Reactions

Comment by JR on November 13, 2008 at 11:09pm

This is so far what I found out about allergy self-diagnosis.

	How to Self-Test for Allergies	List of Common Allergens
When most people think food allergy, they think an immediate collapse to the floor, the face turning blue. Yes, this is one type of allergy, the sort everyone fears when they hear about a peanut allergy for example. Possibly more common is the "delayed onset" food allergy, where symptoms do not appear for hours or even days. For example, when I eat wheat, I don't notice any symptoms for about 24 hours. Some people might take two days before they feel anything. In rare cases, symptoms may not appear for a week. This makes the job of determining what you are allergic to very difficult.	The following procedure must be followed without cheating, or you will have a lot of inconvenience, but without useful information. This method only works if, when you eliminate foods, you eliminate all traces of the food all the time for the full duration of the test. The following procedure refers to the blacklist. This is the list of foods you will be eliminating from your diet. Initially, it will include all of the foods you are testing. As you re-introduce foods into your diet, you can refine the blacklist, striking off those foods which do not cause problems, and leaving on foods that do. 1. Eliminate all traces of every food listed in the most common food allergens list. Initially, this will be your blacklist. You must eliminate these foods for at least one full month for a truly valid test. 2. Note how you feel over this period of time. Keep a daily journal of your symptoms and energy level to track your progress (or lack there of). 3. If you are allergic to any of the foods on the blacklist, you should feel better by the time one month has passed. 4. Introduce just one of the foods from the blacklist. We will call it the test food, the single food you are testing for allergy symptoms. Eat a very small amount of the food - about one tenth of what you would normally consider a serving. 5. Wait up to three full days to see if there is a reaction. If you get any symptoms, you should highly suspect this test food food. Keep in mind that other factors may cause symptoms, such as allergens that are not on your blacklist, or even fear that this food will cause problems. If you experience symptoms, put the test food on your tentative black list. 6. If you do not experience symptoms, eat more of the test food: double your intake from the previous test amount. 7. If you find you have fully reintroduced the test food into your diet, and you still feel fine, you can consider it to be OK (at least for now). Add it to your tentative whitelist. 8. If you experienced symptoms from the food you just tested, allow your body to recover. Wait several weeks (it may take a month) for your body to feel good and relatively symptom free, before moving on to the next test food. 9. Test the next food on the blacklist. This becomes your new test food. 10. Repeat steps 4 through 7 for each food on the blacklist. You now have a tentative whitelist and a tentative blacklist. If you feel fine and have been eating all the foods listed on your whitelist, chances are you now know what foods are OK, and what foods are not. It is now time to retest the items listed on your blacklist. 11. Start the test over again for any items on your blacklist about which you are unsure.	Here are 20 of the most common allergenic foods: * Cow's Milk * Wheat gluten (gliadin) * Gluten (in wheat, oats, rye and barley) * Yeast * Egg Whites * Cashew nuts * Egg Yolk * Garlic * Soya beans * Brazil nuts * Almonds * Corn * Hazelnuts * Oats * Lentils * Kiwi fruit * chilli peppers * Sesame seeds * Sunflower seeds * Peanuts	If you think you might be suffering from a food allergy, but are not sure which food is causing the problem, start by cutting out all of the above foods. Other foods commonly associated with allergic reactions (although not necessarily delayed) include: * Spinach * Shrimp * Oranges * Chicken * Strawberries * Tomato * Pork * Beef See the related story Self-Testing for Allergies for a suggested approach.

How to Self-Test for Allergies

The following procedure must be followed without cheating, or you will have a lot of inconvenience, but without useful information. This method only works if, when you eliminate foods, you eliminate all traces of the food all the time for the full duration of the test.

The following procedure refers to the blacklist. This is the list of foods you will be eliminating from your diet. Initially, it will include all of the foods you are testing. As you re-introduce foods into your diet, you can refine the blacklist, striking off those foods which do not cause problems, and leaving on foods that do.

1. Eliminate all traces of every food listed in the most common food allergens list. Initially, this will be your blacklist.

You must eliminate these foods for at least one full month for a truly valid test.
2. Note how you feel over this period of time. Keep a daily journal of your symptoms and energy level to track your progress (or lack there of).
3. If you are allergic to any of the foods on the blacklist, you should feel better by the time one month has passed.
4. Introduce just one of the foods from the blacklist. We will call it the test food, the single food you are testing for allergy symptoms.
Eat a very small amount of the food - about one tenth of what you would normally consider a serving.
5. Wait up to three full days to see if there is a reaction. If you get any symptoms, you should highly suspect this test food food.
Keep in mind that other factors may cause symptoms, such as allergens that are not on your blacklist, or even fear that this food will cause problems. If you experience symptoms, put the test food on your tentative black list.
6. If you do not experience symptoms, eat more of the test food: double your intake from the previous test amount.
7. If you find you have fully reintroduced the test food into your diet, and you still feel fine, you can consider it to be OK (at least for now). Add it to your tentative whitelist.
8. If you experienced symptoms from the food you just tested, allow your body to recover. Wait several weeks (it may take a month) for your body to feel good and relatively symptom free, before moving on to the next test food.
9. Test the next food on the blacklist. This becomes your new test food.
10. Repeat steps 4 through 7 for each food on the blacklist.
You now have a tentative whitelist and a tentative blacklist. If you feel fine and have been eating all the foods listed on your whitelist, chances are you now know what foods are OK, and what foods are not. It is now time to retest the items listed on your blacklist.
11. Start the test over again for any items on your blacklist about which you are unsure.

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