Soy and Cancers

 Linking here so that I have it for future reference. I've read several meta-analyses that have said the same thing.

Green!

 

Love the green!

Nutrition

http://www.forksoverknives.com/why-the-nations-largest-health-plan-wants-their-doctors-to-recommend-a-plant-based-diet/

It's too hard to eat plant-based people say... No, it's not. I will be the first to admit it is overwhelming at first, but it's not too hard; learning something new is hard at first when it's new, but then you figure it out.  Find a friend to help you.

It requires a commitment, but if you aren't feeling well (or if you are getting bad news at the doctor), it should be something you are interested in fixing.  Your diet has so much power over your body and your well-being.  I know these are just "anecdotes," but take a read of a few http://www.forksoverknives.com/category/success-stories/ they are very powerful. This is my favorite showing that it can be done!  (Eating well while traveling is hard, but it can be done.)

Now with MORE green

I've started drinking matcha tea.  I'm looking for my favorite brand and reviewing this site:  http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2014/03/matcha-green-tea-brand-reviews-buying.html

Matcha is expensive, but it's cheaper than a Starbuck's habit and Dr. Gregor says it is SUPER good for you! (Click to watch a short video.)

(And this video tells you that it's okay to drink up to ten cups of tea a day.)  (Whew! I'm about 1/2 that.)

Proteinaholic

One of the plant-based doctors I follow in FB is coming out with a new book in October. 

See more here: http://proteinaholic.com

Read an excerpt here: http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/1/a/1/1a1f0e0b1a8cce83/Proteinaholic_Excerpt.pdf?c_id=9766045&expiration=1443031678&hwt=018a5ac1c6a73f839e8c04e3317b0393

Back in 2012, I did an analysis of a typical day of food and found that in my VEGAN diet, I get all the protein I need in 1/2 of my calories.  NO protein deficiency here!

I'm not an elite athlete, but I am active, but I am not worried.  We have lots of examples of vegan athletes... !

I think, also, as one gets older, plant-based makes more sense (and I'll follow up on this in the future).  If you can't eat 100% plant-based, try increasing your percentage.  It does help!

Article

I think it may be one of my favorite articles to date.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/07/25/vegan-diet-health-america-column/30514159/

Forks Over Knives

http://www.forksoverknives.com/my-journey-from-doctor-to-ms-patient-and-back-thanks-to-plant-based-eating/

I love this story. It's always so amazing to me that people don't see how there is a connection between what they eat and their health.

Food can alter the expressions of genes; the study of the modification of the expression of genes is called epigenetics. When you eat plants, they often "turn off" bad genes. Eating plants can help with inflammation, obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and immune diseases.

I've never really spoken about why I went plant-based, but you may have guessed that it was because of health reasons. I honestly believe I'd be a sick, medicine-taking person if I weren't plant-based.  Plants are so amazing.  I love Forks over Knives for what it tries to do for people. I wish people would give diet a try before taking medicines. Plants are usually more effective (maybe not as fast acting as a drug, but more effective in the long run) and pretty much always safer.



 

Spicy!

Someday I'll get back to blogging.  In the meantime, enjoy the video.
Here's a link to a write-up.  Maybe you should drink some tumeric tea while watching the video (or right after).

Antibiotics...

Here's a nice article on something that might help us with antibiotic resistance. I'm not a fan of antibiotics or other medicines unless they are REALLY needed. However, I am interested in plants and what they give us so I'm very excited about the new research with essential oils. I use a couple of different essential oils to help keep us healthy. My feeling is they might help and they can't hurt. Maybe I'm wasting money, but I do like the way they smell so, worst case, it's like buying perfume.

I found out about Oil of Thieves a few years back and became a fan of it (well of the generic brand). It might help and it can't hurt. It smells like the holidays. I like to use it when I travel. I figure having a little on my hands while traveling is a good thing.

When the girls (or I) get a cold, we rub it on our feet, and our neck and chests.  You have to use another oil to dilute it 'cause it's really "spicy." (I use a little bit of castor oil as the base and mix in 3-4 drops of the generic oil of thieves. We haven't tried it, thieves oil or castor oil, internally.)

I learned about oil of oregano a little more recently and really like it. I can't remember why I bought it, but I had some, and I had an infection on the back of my leg. The area was swollen, it hurt, and was really icky. I thought it would take 3-4 days to rid the infection and then much longer to heal. I put oil of oregano on it (straight and it STUNG). However, the infection was GONE within 24 hours (I re-applied a few more times because despite the stinging because I could see it was helping.) Seriously, the area healed faster than I ever imagined. I now use it on all skin issues we have; I mix a few drops up with a little water (so it doesn't sting). It really works to help prevent or end infections and promote healing on the skin.

I told my brother about oil of oregano when he had a bad scrape on his leg. He didn't use it. He ended up on some serious antibiotics as it got very infected. I don't know whether oil of oregano would have helped him, but we'll never know.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving this year. One of the girls had an AWFUL cold. Horrible. Fever, cough, the whole nine-yards. One of the other girls started coming down with it. I gave her oil of oregano (on my brother's urging 'cause he has since started using it and liking it) and the second kid didn't get nearly as sick. She was a little sick for 24 hours whereas the first kid was pretty darn sick for 4 or 5 days. I could give some more testimonial, but I'll end by saying I think we've prevented 4 or 5 colds (in different people) by using these oil of oregano capsules.


I'll be traveling soon.  I'll be taking some oil of oregano capsules and the oil of thieves (I buy the "generic" kind) with me.  Might help, can't hurt.

The third oil we always have around is lavender oil. One of my daughters LOVES it and swears it helps her sleep.  My Mom introduced it to her when my daughter was having problems sleeping. My Mom is gone now so I love that my daughter has this wonderful, happy tip, and memory. Again, worst case scenario, I'm wasting my money and it doesn't help her sleeping, but on the positive, my daughter smells like lavender, and is happy.

Tumeric Tea

I've read about tumeric tea for a long time. I finally decided to try it.

Yum.  I'll try it with almond milk next.

I put ~ 3 cups of water in a pan and 1 teaspoon of tumeric. Boiled, and poured a big cup of it. I poured in a teaspoon of honey.  Yum!  I totally skipped straining it and it was fine.  I took the remainder, about a cup, and added ginger tea bag.  I'll try that tomorrow and report back.

Tumeric is supposed to be amazing for you.

Might help, can't hurt.  My motto for what I eat, drink, and do.

It's almost the end of the year...

And I'm too busy for blogging it seems. Still cooking a lot, and finding lots of good recipes, and WANTING to blog, but no time. Work is getting ready to "shut down" so everyone is trying to wrap things up. Hopefully I'll have a little time next week to get some posts in before the year ends.  (All I want for Christmas is some time to blog!) 

In the mean time, here are two articles that I want to hold on to...

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/12/10/250007042/chowing-down-on-meat-and-dairy-alters-gut-bacteria-a-lot-and-quickly

http://www.npr.org/2013/12/13/250730968/this-docs-miracle-drug-exercise

I do believe that diet and exercise are extremely important, and always have. When I was a kid (probably about 6 or 7), I couldn't believe adults didn't like to run around. I couldn't believe they didn't see that if they ran around, they'd be better off. For me, when my back was in very bad shape in 2005 (after 3 babies in 4 years), I decided I needed to exercise more and get back into shape. People, even doctors, told me to slow down and be careful, but I'm so glad I chose the path of exercise. I also began to change the way I ate in 2006, cutting down dairy and adding more grains and veggies until I went vegan in 2009. It all "can't hurt and might help" and now we are learning why things, like exercise and a good diet, work. (The articles above point to 2 small, but important, clues.)

Oh, and a video

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/eggs-and-diabetes/


To all things green! 

Hubris...

This post isn't about vegan / plant-based, but I felt I should write it. In 2010, I had my vitamin D level tested and it was lovely... 62. I was proud. I kept taking my 2,000 IU a day. I just had them re-checked. I expected all would be grand and I'd be celebrating my 50+ result again.

cue ominous music...

Nope... 30. What??!

Yes, 30 is "in the normal range" for my lab. But it is THE LOWEST normal value. I got a call from the nurse happily telling me it was normal. I do not consider 30 good at all. I have some inflammation issues and 30 isn't enough for me.

From this site, the Vitamin D Council, it sounds like I need to take 5,000 IU a day of D3 to achieve a level of 50.  Guess I'll be popping Vitamin D capsules for a while.