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Reasons to Eat Raw

We’ve all heard of vegan or vegetarian diets, but the idea of eating only fresh raw foods is a little more unique and less understood. Can you eat a healthy diet of all uncooked foods and why would you want to?

It goes without saying that fresh food is better. It holds more nutrients than stale food. You can carry that premise a little farther and included cooked food in there as well. Fresh raw food holds so many more nutrients than any food that has been subjected to high heat, and therefore it is better for your body.

Take a look at raw food versus its cooked state. Raw is usually brightly colored and has a crisp texture. On the other hand, cooked food is much duller in appearance and has become soft and little mushy. The difference is really pretty obvious.

High temperatures break down many active enzymes as well as some of the more delicate vitamins. Even proteins are damaged by high heat. Though experts haven’t agrees completely on the exact temperature that marks the point between raw and cooked, many will say that you should only eat foods that have been kept below 115F to 120F. That includes any processing before you purchase it.

Many people who have given up cooked food have found that their natural immune systems are improved and they stop getting colds and the flu every winter. Though the initial switch to raw can be hard on the digestive system at first, the added fibre can make your digestive processes work better with less indigestion or gas. Raw foods are naturally less processed and will have no salt and very little sugar. Chemicals and preservatives are also not part of the raw diet, so you’ll be free of those as well.

This may seem a little daunting and quite extreme but you will be surprised how many foods can be made without actually cooking them. You do not have to subsist on a diet of just fruit and raw vegetables. With a little ingenuity, you can create a large number of food creations that are all raw. A blended mix of raw dates, raw carob, nuts and honey can become a sweet piece of “fudge”, for example. It will take a little getting use to but you can learn a whole new way of preparing food.

Dehydrators are a great tool for a the novice raw foodie. Drying foods can create a crisp texture (for cookies and crackers) without having to actually heat up the food into the cooked territory. There are definitely some tricks you can learn to add plenty of variety to your potential menu.

Because food is not cooked, this also tends to be a vegetarian or even vegan diet since animal products are not usually eaten raw. This is another side-benefit from eating only fresh raw foods.…

6 Tips On Making the Transition From Vegetarian To Vegan

Making the transition from vegetarian to vegan can seem deceptively simple. In fact, most never even suspect how much their life will change. Becoming a vegan, even by way of the vegetarianism, is a major transition. People will judge you and call you an extremist. Food options will not be as plentiful. You’ll need to educate yourself on what is vegan and what is not. You’ll have to decide whether you’re committed to being a dietary vegan, an animal activist, an environmentalist, or all 3. Most importantly, you’ll need to be sure that this is right for you despite what anyone else thinks. That said, here are some tips to help you deal with this onslaught of issues.

1. Get some vegan cookbooks – This is probably the most important thing that you’ll need to do to fight the urge to fall off the wagon. Using cookbooks help you avoid boredom with your now limited food choices. They open your mind to a plethora of meal ideas and more than that they allow you to continue to enjoy good tasting food.

2. Read everything you can about veganism – Whether online or hard books and magazines, stay up on all the latest in vegan news. You’ll find that you’ll learn about health trends and pandemics well before the general public does. The vegan community is a strong network of very knowledgeable people who have a wealth of information about things that you should always be aware of.

3. Focus on making healthy vegan food choices – Believe it or not all vegans are not the most health-conscious eaters. In fact, you’ll learn that special attention must be paid to strategically planning out your meals so that you get an adequate supply and nutrients, vitamins and minerals. You don’t want to overdo it on all those processed vegan goodies that you come across in the health food store, nor do you want to take in too much starch by overdoing it on pasta. So take your time and plan out your meals.

4. Go to as many health food stores and co-ops as you can – The staff in most health food stores are the best. Not only are they quite knowledgeable, but they can be instrumental in guiding you to all the right resources, making the transition that much more seamless.

5. Make some vegan friends – Having a support system or network of vegan friends is crucial during this phase. They will help you overcome the adversity that you may face as a vegan, can be useful as a good resource to vegan food options or a good source of motivation during times of self-doubt. Alternatively, you may just want to socialize with other like-minded people.

6. Educate others – By educating others you will educate yourself on what it means to be vegan. This will increase your confidence and soon enough you’ll become the go-to person that everyone seeks out for motivation, dieting tips and insights about health and nutrition.…

Vegan Eating – How to Eliminate Animal Products From Your Diet

A vegan diet is one that does not allow any type of meat or animal products at all. No animal milk, no cheese, no eggs, or any other product that is derived from an animal. Many vegans will not even use products that have been tested on animals, so the diet is very strict. To follow a true vegan diet, processed foods should also be avoided. Although the diet is somewhat strict, it is extremely healthy and can help overcome obesity, prevent cardiovascular disease, and even help prevent certain types of cancer. A vegan diet is loaded with vitamins and minerals that many people in the world are lacking, which is why vegans maintain healthier weights and have less health problems on average. If this sounds like the diet for you, then you need to first learn how to eliminate animal products from your diet.

Obviously, you want to avoid any type of meat or dairy products since they are directly derived from an animal. Even certain types of oil should be avoided, as they could contain animal fat. The best types of oil to use are coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil since they are more healthy and contain absolutely no animal products. The vegan diet consists of mostly fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, and nuts. Organic food is best because it has not lost it’s nutrients while being processed. You also will not have to worry about poisoning your body with pesticides that are on non-organic fruits and vegetables.

One of the things that makes vegan eating more difficult are the hidden animal products in many products. Some of these products include chewing gum, certain pastas, and pastries. Reading the package on the product is the best way to ensure it does not contain any animal products. Certain ingredients that you need to look for are albumin, calcium stearate, capric acid, gelatin, dextrose, lactic acid, pancreatin, and whey. There are many other ingredients that may contain animal products, so make sure to do your research. An easier way to tell if the product has hidden animal products is to check the cholesterol levels on the back of the package. Only animal products contain cholesterol, so if the product has any, it is not a vegan product. Hidden animal products is another good reason that processed foods should be avoided.

As you can see, there are many things to look out for when preparing and purchasing vegan food. To be safe, it is best to stick with organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and beans. When buying packaged whole grains, nuts, and beans, carefully read the package before purchasing. Many pastas contain eggs, and refried beans sometimes contain types of animal fats. In time, it will be easier to identify which products are best suited for your diet. Until you feel comfortable, eating fresh produce and beans will provide all of the nutrients that you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In fact, many vegans do not purchase any packaged foods, and they are perfectly healthy individuals.…

The Vegan Diet – The Dark Side to Veganism

Most people quickly identified a vegan diet with great benefits, not only regarding your health but also spiritual benefits such as compassion to all living things. So what is the dark side to veganism?

Some people find it very difficult and challenging to adopt a vegan lifestyle and there are several reasons why they tend to fail. They have trouble finding accurate information but even worse, they do not feel capable of making those changes in their diet. Although it is definitely possible to overcome this difficulties, people also tend to fail because they do not receive enough support from their families, friends and they feel the environment takes a big toll on their failure too. They feel they cannot be vegan on a busy and fast pace life.

The biggest difficulty people have is giving up meat. This includes the most common such as beef, pork, chicken or turkey, but also meats such as fish, shrimp, ham, hot dogs and other similar foods. So for someone who always find him or herself going to place to place without another choice other than a fast food meal, this can be quite challenging indeed.

Others find it very difficult to give up dairy. With products such as milk, cheese, yogurt and even ice cream on a hot summer day, people find it hard to give those up because it has been part of their diet since they were kids, so that brings another challenge as well.

And some people don’t want to go as far as rejecting every product that may contain animal products such as leather, fur, silk. So if you are a person who loves fashion, this might also be a reason why adopting a vegan lifestyle is too hard.

You may ask, why is it so hard to give up those things? To me, It really comes down to our domestication as a child to believe certain myth about our diet that get really ingrained in our sub conscious. For example, with all the research about all the hormones, pesticides and chemicals they put on our food, and consciously know about the health danger this products cause to our bodies, wouldn’t be logical for everyone to become vegan?

If you really want to adopt this diet, then one of the biggest things you need to have is will power and commitment. Honor your word everyday about your commitment to the vegan lifestyle and compassion to all living things. You might fall, but if you do, then commit yourself again to your veganism and you will succeed.

I hope you have found this article to be useful in your quest for a better quality of life.…

Treating Obesity With a Vegetarian Diet

There is no question that there is an obesity epidemic in this country. More and more adults, teens, and children are being diagnosed with clinical obesity, and researchers, doctors, and patients are all looking for ways to help prevent and treat it. While “diet and exercise” can often be a mantra from those who are passing on a simple fix, it can be hard to find the right balance. Researchers have found that although there are many different diet plans available, the best ones rely on healthful eating choices. One of those healthy diets includes vegetarianism.

Research has often proven that populations of non-meat eaters tend to be leaner compared to their meat-eating counterparts. Consequently, these people endure reduced rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and other often fatal diseases associated with or brought on by excess fat and obesity. Weight loss does not depend on exercising or counting calories alone; a healthy diet should be followed. A vegetarian diet plan can lead to weight loss occurring at a rate of about one pound each week.

In the general human population, rates of obesity are skyrocketing. In vegetarian populations, obesity rates can range from 0% to 6%, which is an incredibly significant difference. The body weight of female and male vegetarians is generally three percent to twenty percent lower than that of non-vegetarians. In clinical tests, low fat vegetarian and vegan diets have been demonstrated to produce weight loss at a rate of roughly one pound each week.

This is not to suggest that dieting alone can deliver results. Exercise must be consistent and continuing, but does not have to be physically demanding. Participants in the vegetarian diet program do not have to place extra limits on portion size, calories, or carbohydrates. When individuals treat themselves to limitless amounts of food items with lots of fiber, including fruit, veggies, and complex whole-grains in order to begin achieving or continuing to keep up a healthful body weight, they can do so without being hungry.

Furthermore, there is a substantial amount of data that a diet comprised of vegan foods can cause increased burn of calories after meals are finished, which supports the idea that plant-based food items are a truly efficient bodily fuel, instead of being saved by the body processes as fat. Additionally, blood insulin sensitivity is raised by a vegan diet, allowing nutrients to more rapidly enter the cells of the system and subsequently be converted into heat, as opposed to being converted into excess fat.

An Oxford University study has discovered that meat-eaters who switch to a plant-based diet gain less weight over a period of five years. It’s apparent that the deadly epidemic of obesity can be halted as well as reversed. Moving over to a vegetarian or vegan diet plan is the best way to slim down and ensure that it stays off, often for good. It’s ultimately accurate that the best part about it is the fact that it’s not really a “diet” at all; Vegan and vegetarian food items are each naturally lower in fat and delicious, so quantity and calorie limitations are unnecessary. Eating vegan food helps to lose weight with little effort.…

Vegan Lifestyle Requires No Exploitation Of Animals

People choosing to live a vegan lifestyle usually do so because they are philosophically opposed to exploiting animals for any reason. Other reasons for choosing a vegan lifestyle include health, religious or environmental concerns. Those living a vegan lifestyle refuse to use animals for food, clothing or other purposes. In addition to a vegan diet, they purchase and wear vegan shoes, vegan clothing, vegan boots and other vegan footwear. They generally believe that animals deserve the same rights as human beings.

Vegans never consume meat, fish, seafood, dairy products, eggs, or poultry. Some even avoid honey.

A vegan lifestyle can be more healthful than a diet that includes meat, but it must be carefully balanced to avoid deficiencies in calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin, omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, iodine and vitamin B12. A diet rich in vegetables provides more dietary fiber, vitamin C, vitamin E, carbohydrates, potassium, magnesium, omega-6 fatty acids, carotenoids and folic acid. Many of these help to protect against heart disease and cancer.

Many meat-based dishes can be adapted to include tofu, gluten or almond milk, soy milk and grain milk can replace cow’s milk. The vegan lifestyle diet consists of vegetables, grains, fresh fruits and starchy foods such as potatoes and yams.

Health benefits of a vegan lifestyle include lower blood pressure, weight loss, lower blood sugar and lower serum cholesterol.

Vegans avoid using fur, feathers, cocoons or wax from animal sources. Those practicing a vegan lifestyle look for alternatives to traditional leather shoes, handbags, wallets, belts and wool socks. This requires that shoe and boot outer surfaces are not made from either suede or leather and that the insides are not lined with silk or wool

Silk is rejected because the caterpillars that produce the silk fibers are killed when their cocoons are boiled to extract the filament. An alternative to silk extracted with this method is Peace Silk, which allows the caterpillars to emerge from their cocoons before the filaments are extracted.

Often, vegans require that their footwear be manufactured in a way that does not exploit workers or harm the environment. Vegan shoes can be made from recycled plastics or tires as well plant-based materials such as natural rubber, hemp or bamboo. Because many Hollywood celebrities have embraced a vegan lifestyle, there are many choices for vegan shoes and vegan boots available.

Many designers have begun offering vegan footwear that is made from synthetic leather or suede. Vegan footwear compares with traditional footwear in cost and designer vegan footwear is comparable in price to other designer footwear.

These people demand that the cosmetics and personal care products they use not be derived from or tested on animals. There are many products available in stores and on-line that do not contain animal products.

One common requirement of vegan clothing is that it not be produced by sweatshop labor and that workers not be exploited. Materials used for vegan clothing avoid animal-based products and by-products and rely on organic cotton and synthetic fibers.

Nike is being touted for creating a soccer uniform for a French team created entirely from organic cotton and recycled plastic bottles. Designer Stella McCartney is known for her vegan designs and does not use either leather or fur. Designer David Rittinger has designed a shirt made entirely from leaves. The company NOHARM offers men’s shoes and men’s vegan boots that look exactly like leather footwear but are entirely leather-free. In addition, the Japanese are marketing jeans made from sugar cane. Stylish vegan shoes are even being made from recycled plastic bottle caps.…

Men’s Vegan Casual Shoes

The definition of casual dress has become somewhat wider over the past few years. If you ask some people what casual clothing is, you’re likely to hear that this means donning a cozy pair of sweats for the day. However, for many men “casual dress” means that you are not dressed up in suit and tie for a business occasion or in your shirttails for a formal affair. Casual dress still means that you want to look good for a day at the office or a night on the town. Casual dress is about looking good in a nonchalant way; not sloppy, but attractive and comfortable.

A casual dresser is a savvy dresser; the kind of man who knows how to easily coordinate and make the most of his wardrobe. He exudes an air of confidence and relaxation, turning heads wherever he goes. Even going casual, a man wants to look his best from the top of his head down to his toes.

Speaking of your toes, what about men’s casual shoes? A savvy dresser needs a nice pair of shoes to complete the ensemble. Face it, that grubby old pair of athletic shoes just won’t do if you want to look casual but classy. A casual man prefers a classy loafer, a nice sandal or a soft pair of moccasins. When shopping for men’s shoes, you’re probably looking for something that makes a nice yet subtle fashion statement, saying “I’m laid back, but I still look good.”

For many men, there is a growing conflict of interest. Mainstream casual shoes are not often made from materials that are earth and animal friendly. They are not often exceptionally comfortable, even after the “break-in” period, and durability is not always a strong point. If you’re the type of man who is earth conscious and is looking for a nice pair of casual shoes that promotes a no-harm lifestyle, is earth friendly and also provides you with added comfort and durability for a reasonable price, look no further! You need to get your hands on a pair of men’s vegan casual shoes.

Men’s vegan casual shoes are made from materials known for being breathable and soft, giving you that walking-on-air comfort from the first wear. They are derived from plant and synthetic materials, causing no harm to the animals or the earth. They will even break down at the end of their lifecycle. You get the same styles, colors and textures as mainstream casual shoes. It’s difficult to even tell the difference if you don’t already know that they are vegan! On top of that, you get years more of wear out of vegan shoes than from mainstream fashions.

Major manufacturers and top designer names are jumping on the vegan bandwagon thanks to the high demand from consumers. For a phenomenal range of options, look to the internet when buying men’s vegan casual shoes. As far as pricing, you don’t have to max out your credit card to get comfortable, durable, and earth-friendly casual shoes. In fact, you don’t have to spend any more than you would have for mainstream footwear. If you’re looking for comfortable, durable, and stylish casual shoes, look no further than vegan footwear.…