Good for the Heart

While going vegan may seem like it is good for the heart in terms of being kind to animals, it is also a healthier option than eating a diet consisting of meat.  When people discover they are at risk or diagnosed with heart disease, one of many doctors’ recommendations is reducing meat intake in the diet.  Why is this so?

According to WebMD, Harvard’s Health Blog, Cleveland Health Clinic, and many others, eating meat has a direct correlation to the development of heart disease.  A diet consisting of meat typically includes higher amounts of cholesterol than a plant-based diet, which is a direct cause of heart disease.  Cholesterol exists in the arteries, and gradually builds up over time.  This eventually narrows the arteries, making blood flow more difficult.  However, this cholesterol can be eliminated over time – if the consumption of such products is eliminated.  The body will work to reduce the amount of cholesterol, and ones’ risk of heart disease can decrease.

Red meat specifically, including lamb, beef, and venison, contain carnitine.  Carnitine is a protein building block converted by bacteria in the large intestine, which thickens the walls of arteries.  Typically, the redder the meat, the more carnitine it contains.  Carnitine triggers a certain reaction which can be dangerous for our health, if it occurs excessively.  Research shows that carnitine may also be found in energy drinks, egg yolks, and fatty meats.  Many doctors agree that deciding the eliminate meat from ones’ diet is a personal choice, however it is a choice that may assist in reducing problems of the heart.  It is also important to consider that ones’ family history plays a very important part in how heart disease may affect a person.  Additionally, vegans tend to be more health-conscientious than the typical meat eater, so the overall lifestyle may also have an impact on health.

Check out the following site for more information regarding vegans and diseases:

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/dxrates

 

 

 

That’s vegan?!

Eating vegan is not just carrots and celery.  Just about any dish can be made without animal products, and there are loads of snacks people already eat everyday without even knowing they are actually vegan!  Check out some snacks you may not have guessed were animal-free:

 

Oreos
Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Ritz Crackers
Unfrosted Poptarts
Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets
Goya Flan
Nutter Butters
Nabisco Grahams
SuperPretzel Soft Pretzels
Chocolate Chip Teddy Grahams
Super Sweet Chili Doritos
Cracker Jacks
Airhead Taffy
belVita Bites – Chocolate, Cinnamon Brown Sugar, Mixed Berry
Big League Chew Bubble Gum
Clif Bars
Dum Dums
Fruit by the Foot
Herr’s Onion Flavored Rings
Hubba Bubba gum
Jolly Rancher hard candy
Lay’s Potato Chips
Lay’s Kettle Cookied potato chips
Nabisco Ginger Snaps, Oreo Chocolate Cones, Saltine Crackers, Original Grahams
Smarties (U.S. only)
Sour Patch Kids
SunChips Original
Tic Tacs
Zotz
Velamints
Wheat Thins
Wise Onion Rings
Smucker’s Uncrustables
Cap’n Crunch Peanut Butter Crunch
Aunt Jemima Pancake/Waffle Mix
Thomas’s New York Style Bagels
Unforsted Poptarts

Red Bull
Monster
Kool-Aid Drink Mix
Minute-Maid Frozen Juice Bars, Lemonades, Individual Cups

Luigi’s Real Italian Ice
Keebler Fudge Shoppe Fudge Pops
Duncan Hines Creamy Homestyle Icing
Duncan Hines Cake Mix
Jello-O Instant Pudding Mix
Smucker’s Marshmellow Ice Cream Topping
Sara Lee’s Frozen Pie
Ghirardelli Chocolate Brownie Mix
Krispy Kreme Fruit Pies
Life Original Cereal
Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats Unfrosted Bite-size
Baker’s Baking Chocolate Bar (Unsweetened and Semi-Sweet)
Tropical Source Dark Chocolate Chips

Crisco No-Stick Cooking Spray
Campbell’s Mushroom Gravy
Classico Bruschetta
McCormick French Onion Dip Mix
Old El Paso Seasoning Mix
Smucker’s Ice Cream Topping

 

 

Next time you go to the grocery store, you may realize cutting out animal products is not as difficult as one may think.  A simple search on the internet will provide loads of snacks to try while living a vegan lifestyle!

Thirsty, huh?

As a whole, people generally care about the environment.  We recycle, take short showers, and carpool.  If people are taking these steps, why is our planet still going through an environmental disaster?  Unfortunately, these steps alone are only a small solution to a very big problem.  Specifically, our water use is an enormous problem.

We consume a lot more water than simply what is in our homes.  Showers, toilets, and drinking water is but a fraction of the water consumed each day.  When we sit down to dinner full of vegetables and maybe even a steak, do we consider how this food was made?  Most of us get our food from either a grocery store or a local farmer’s market.  Very few people actually grow their own food year round.  Consider how much water is needed for a full day’s recommended amount of fruits and vegetables:

A garden that is 8ft x 4ft, or 32 sq. ft. could provide a small family’s daily recommended fruits and vegetables for several days.  Each week, the garden requires 20 gallons of water in order for the plants to grow (a typical shower is approximately 17 gallons).  Now, what if we are raising animals, so that we can get our protein and enjoy a tasty steak?  We have to provide grains for the animal to become fully grown!  Cows will consume approximately 27 pounds of quality hay each day.  If it takes 20 gallons of water to grow 32 sq. ft. of plants, imagine how much it takes to grow 27 lbs worth of plants.

Mammals are pretty thirsty beings, whether it is drinking water directly or watering the plants we eat everyday.  When the majority of America chooses to have meat almost every day, if not every meal, there is no doubt we will have some sort of water crisis.  Check out the following infographic to visually understand the amount of water we consume:

(click to enlarge)

Now, taking shorter showers is always a good thing; however, in the grand scheme of things, there are other important steps we can take to limit our use of water!  Next time you sit down for dinner, opt for a veggie burger (using half the amount of water) instead of the usual beefy burger.

Sources:

http://beef.unl.edu/cattleproduction/

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/

http://ucanr.edu/sites/scmg/files/185639.pdf