Ways To Prevent Diabetes II

A concern for vegetarians is type II Diabetes. I found this great article on some things you can do to prevent type II diabetes. Enjoy Ways To Prevent Diabetes II.

Food as a Drug

This is a short video from the Crossfit Journal library that talks about why certain carbs are better than others as well as why you need protein and fat at every meal. All comments welcome.

Vegetarian Spider?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091012-vegetarian-spider.html

So it's finally happened. A natural carnivore is now a full blown vegan... well more of a flexitarian. Mostly eats plants but occasionally feasts ants but only when it has a craving, isn't not a religious holiday, or it doesn't feel too bloated.

I thought this was a cool article and a change of pace to the normal ones. If you have any articles that are interesting please post them in the comments.

Revisiting Whey

I've talked before on why whey is bad but lets review. Whey is a milk product so it has lactose. Lactose is a carbohydrate so most dairy will spike your insulin. If you take whey protein shakes just be aware you can't eat as many carbs with your shake.

Good news though. if you get any dairy that is lactose free then you treat it as just a protein (and fat if there is any fat in the food). There are several affordable lactose free whey shakes. The one I like is from Costco. Dr. Barry Sears also sells one on his zone site.

The morale of the story is vary your protein source as much as possible but try to get protein sources that are just proteins. The lactose free whey is a perfect way to accomplish this goal.

What's Up With Tofu/Soy?

With about 2-4% of the world being vegetarian or vegan and growing it's only a matter of time before we see a vegan zombie movie. I don't think it'll make for a good movie but hey Hollywood puts out some real crap (Transformers 2, and Pootie Tang being examples).

So tofu/soy are interesting things because of their relationship with estrogen. Tofu actually has components that act like estrogen and estrogen blocking hormones. There have been studies with both properties(separately) on both men and women and let me preface the studies by saying that there has not been anything conclusive yet. Here are what the studies are saying:

1) Excess tofu/soy consumption has been linked to breast cancer in women. Excess meaning tofu/soy with more than 1 of your meals a day.
2) Excess tofu/soy consumption causes men to have too much estrogen in their body. Excess meaning tofu/soy with more than 1 of your meals a day.
3) Tofu/soy has been connected to thyroid issues.

Again the studies are not conclusive but it is worth taking note if you are a vegan/vegetarian. The key here is change up your protein sources. Mix in eggs, lactose free whey, and some dairy as your protein sources. You'll help avoid the issues above and you won't get bored with your diet.

Eating On The Go Part II

By popular demand here are some more options for eating vegetarian on the go. See "What do I eat when I'm in a hurry?" posted on Monday September 14, 2009 for more options.

Subway veggie patty on a salad (NO BREAD!). This has egg whites so it's not vegan but it's a great option for other vegetarians. For men or women just have 1 patty on a salad.

Burger King BK veggie with 1 slice of cheese. For women take off half the the bun and eat it that way. For men eat the whole sandwich and add another patty or another slice of cheese. DO NOT eat anything else with the sandwich. Not vegan due to egg whites

If anyone has other suggestions please put them in the comments section.

Vegetarian Week!

So guess what October 1- October 7 is??? It's world vegetarian week!!! Yeah I know I thought the same things:

1)It's not a normal week.. who the heck starts a week on Thursday?

2)Who the heck decided to make these arbitrary days vegetarian week?

3)What does one do during vegetarian week?

Well I don't know the answer to any of these questions. So much like Fox News I'll just make it up!

1)Why not? It's easier to say we are doing it the first 7 days of October instead of the first week of October. Vegetarians decided we want the 1-7th.... those days are ours!!

2)My guess is that there is a secret mastermind group of vegetarians made of the most powerful vegetarians from around the world set the dates. Current members include Alanis Morissette, Alicia Silverstone, Amitabh Bachchan, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (from the Simpsons), Serj Tankian. Past members have included Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, and Sir Issac Newton.

3)During the week all vegetarians confess all the times they ate meet throughout the year and try to recruit new vegetarians.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it! Got a better theory? Post it in the comments.