Food for thought

By Guest Blogger Peter Often people don’t know what they would eat if they adopted a plant based diet. Basically it’s only because they are not familiar with the huge range of plant foods available. What Australians call pumpkin Americans call winter squash. Winter squash is a summer-growing annual vegetable which includes several species within the genus Cucurbita. There is a wide range of winter squashes however in Australia two of the most popular varieties are Japanese (a.k.a. Jap) or Kent squash and butternut squash. Both when ripe have deep dense orange flesh and give a lovely colour and flavour to most recipes. Winter squash can be baked, steamed, mashed, pureed, boiled and even microwaved. It’s an incredibly versatile vegetable used in soups, stews, pies, etc. Winter squash is ideal when a soup or stew requires thickening. It can be used in sweet or savoury dishes. Furthermore winter squashes are low calorie foods with about 40 calories per 100g. Squashes store well in the p...

I was having a productive talk about my blog with my dad the other day, when he said, "You're not going to talk me into being a vegetarian". And it hit me- that's not my intention. I can see how people reading the blog would get that impression- that I'm trying to convince people to become vegetarian or vegan, but that's not necessarily the case. That got me thinking... My intention is 1) to get people to think about their health by presenting information about what is healthy and what is not. 2) to get people to think about eating more plant foods, and at the least- eating less food from animals. 3) to get meat eaters to think about eating only animals that have been respectfully raised- wild or free range animals, or wild caught fish, as compared to animals that have been raised in misery- factory farmed. 4) to get people thinking about limiting or eliminating harmful junk foods from their diet, such as white processed sugar, oils, and salt. 4) to prevent ...

Yesterday I found out that an old neighbor friend of mine that I used to play basketball with had a heart attack and died. We were the same age- 56. He'd never had a heart attack before. I know he had an unhealthy diet. It makes me think. Is what we eat and drink worth the risk of an early death? I have done a lot of reading lately on heart disease and cancer. Think of cholesterol as little sticky bubbles. Whenever one consumes animal fat the cholesterol sticks to arteries. Over time it builds up, providing less and less room for blood flow, constricting the arteries, possibly leading to a heart attack. Taking doctor prescribed medication does help somewhat in an artificial way to decrease cholesterol build up, but what about the side affects and expense of the pills? A healthier, natural way is to transition to more of a plant-based diet. Why not prevent heart disease in the first place? If you don't eat foods that have cholesterol you shouldn't have a cholesterol problem...

Here's a lifestyle changing 5 minute video. Ollie no longer has to take blood pressure medication. Scroll down for the video. http://www.earthsave.org/ollie.htm

My wife Beverly and I enjoy going for country drives whenever we can. We are bird watchers. Last week we were on a bridge high above the Mississippi River about 20 miles north of where we live, when we spotted several ducks swimming in the distance near the riverbank. We pulled off to the side, shut the car off and got our binoculars out. There were 7 of them. We were surprised to see the males' large white head patch and the females have an interesting light brownish hairdo. As we were driving away, we got the bird book out and found out they were Hooded Mergansers, and that they are one of the most sought after ducks. So we decided to go back, and were glad we did! The book says: "Extremely attractive and exceptionally shy, it's one of the most sought after ducks by birders. Most of the time the male's crest is held flat, but in moments of arousal or agitation he quickly unfolds his brilliant crest to attract a mate or signal danger. The drake displays his full rang...

"This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals. Give to every one that asks. Stand up for those in need. Devote your income and labor to others. Have patience and indulgence toward people. Re-examine all you have been told at school or in any book- dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in your words, but in the silent lines of your lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body." — Walt Whitman (excerpted and revised from Leaves of Grass- 1855)

By Guest Blogger Peter As a vegan for over 12 years (and vegetarian for 3 years before that) people often ask ‘what do you eat?’ as if plants don’t count as food. I answer ‘plants’. I rarely feel that I’m missing out, deprived or get cravings for animal foods. Quite simply there is such an ubiquitous choice of plant foods available from the five following foods groups, namely fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes and nuts & seeds. The previous post below highlights just some of the plant foods available: http://greg-foodforthought.blogspot.com/2011/02/watermelon.html (scroll down) If you decide you would like to adopt a plant based diet, embracing it with the attitude of ‘abundance’ rather than ‘deprivation’, you are more likely to be successful. It’s all in the approach. Most people see veganism as a restriction and as such set themselves up to fail. For those who have no intention of ever becoming vegan your health will still benefit by increasing the amount of whole, fresh pla...

http://www.vegsource.com/news/2010/01/meat-dairy-cause-cancer-video.html This is Professor T. Colin Campbell PhD's full presentation at the 2003 VegSource Healthy Lifestyle Expo. Dr. Campbell authored The China Study. Scroll down for the video.

http://www.vegsource.com/video/ This female dog is "mom" to these kittens. In the video there's also other examples of mismatched mothers and babies, such as a mother leopard taking care of a baby baboon, a mother cat and a baby deer, and others. To access this video, after you click on the above link, scroll down approx 4/5 of the way. The female dog video is on the right. On this page are approximately 36 different videos. Most are on health and nutrition. At the bottom of the page are many great clickable links. http://www.vegsource.com/ is a wonderful resource for recipes and all kinds of health info.

"Research from Harvard suggests that the high level of estrogen in the milk from a cow is correlated to an increased risk of hormone-related cancers such as ovarian, prostate, testicular and breast cancer. The Journal of the American Dietetic Association has published a report saying that as many as 75 percent of the world’s population loses the ability to digest lactose, a sugar found in milk, after infancy." The Lowdown By Vasu Murti Man is the only species that drinks the milk of another species. All other species drink the milk of the mothers of their own species until they are weaned. Cow's milk is the perfect food—if you're a baby calf! To mass produce cow's milk on a large scale via factory farming, cows have to be kept continually pregnant, giving birth, and lactating. The cows are genetically bred to produce excess cow's milk for humans. Male cows (bulls) are useless to the dairy industry, so they become veal. By supporting the dairy industry, one ind...