Hello kind hearted vegans

@Vegan Dogs I hear you. Fat/salt/sugar, absolutely reduce those or avoid them if possible.
I had a hard time giving up potato chips, I was in love with potato chips. It's been over 2 years since I bought any. I don't use oil at all cooking so I can't make them either. I use oil for my skin lotion or salve, that's about it.
 
What a great account !
Well I have come to horror realization there are 3 badies

Salt
Sugar
Fat

And the oils that are processed are badies

So no more salty crisps
No more sugar I use stevia
No more nothing but heart unhealthy omega6 coconut oil

And take loads of vitb12
I think I remember that coconut oil isn't that good for you either.
I only use canola oil sparsely in my stir Fry

After a long time not eating chips I've started up again. very careful about how much I eat.
 
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Coconut oil is a medium chain saturated fat. Saturated fats are on my list of 'I don't have any more than necessary'. Grains have a tiny amount of saturated fats, that's about all I get. One cup of whole wheat cracked has 0.4 grams of saturated fat.
 
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Coconut oil is a medium chain saturated fat. Saturated fats are on my list of 'I don't have any more than necessary'. Grains have a tiny amount of saturated fats, that's about all I get. One cup of whole wheat cracked has 0.4 grams of saturated fat.
Fun fact:

although we need some fat in our diets there is no mRDA for saturated fat. If we don't eat any our bodies can make up what we need.

I'm not sure how much fat we need for everything else. I've been told its a good goal to keep your fat intake below 20% of your calories. Being that I find that almost impossible to do I don't worry about becoming "deficient in fat".

I've read that some experts claim by not eating a minimum amount of sat fat our bodies will start to make too much. I've seen the same claims with cholesterol. I don't believe either claim. Probably have been taking bribes from the dairy and egg industries. :)
 
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@Lou, I believe that you are correct. However, my five year old self thinks it's really UNFAIR there is no RDA for Lay's Potato Chips, because, I just miss them so much.
 
@Lou, I believe that you are correct. However, my five year old self thinks it's really UNFAIR there is no RDA for Lay's Potato Chips, because, I just miss them so much.
We have Lays here. but when I lived on the East Coast, Wise was my favorite.

I have been rationing Trader Joe's guilt free potatoes chips. I only get ONE bowl at most.
 
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I think I remember that coconut oil isn't that good for you either.
I only use canola oil sparsely in my stir Fry

After a long time not eating chips I've started up again. very careful about how much I eat.
Yes that is what I say

Apart from monkeys chained abuse collecting it

It is 100 percent Onega 6 no. Omega 3 so heart unhealthy
 
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On the off potential for success that you have had water, for example, in an overflowed cellar, utilize wet-dry vacuums or siphons to eliminate however much you can. In the event that you don't possess a wet-dry vac, you can ordinarily lease one from a neighborhood home improvement shop. In the event that the region is more modest, you can go through enormous towels to splash water from the floor covering too. Since vegetarians eat more products of the soil, by and large, they should profit more. Also, a vegetarian diet is connected to a large group of other well-being benefits that should profit heart wellbeing, including lower weight, lower pulse, and lower levels of awful cholesterol.
 
Hello!
I'm 61 my husband is 70. We are vegan whole food plant based lifestyle people. We live in the midwest US, garden extensively, canning/dehydrating/freezing/fermenting, for food. I looked over the forum and didn't see a gardening section and I was a little surprised.

Here is my recent history.
In 2018 I was approaching 59 and I noticed no matter what I did I gained 5 lbs a year and I couldn't get a handle on it. I know, this happens to everyone but why couldn't I get a handle on it? So I just started by giving up meat in the middle of that year, June. Low and behold, my weight gain stopped for a full six months.

To be on the safe side I decided to investigate what was healthy, was it healthy to give up meat? Would I get enough protein? I found out vegetables/grain/fruit, would give me more than enough. Actually eating meat was overkill when it comes to protein.

I read the China Study, the book. More protein is not very healthy at all. It promotes disease, so not eating meat isn't going to do me harm, it's going to help me. All the excess protein has to be filtered out by the kidneys anyways, so eating meat will be a negative, for my health.

I again, went to the doctor and she said, lose a little weight and I agreed with her. I asked her, why is my blood pressure high? I'd asked this question for 30 years. Whether I was thin or heavy whether I exercised or not, walking sometimes 8 miles in a day, for a whole season, my blood pressure was high. She didn't really answer that question. She said, "are you eating healthy?" I said "yes", by all measures in the media, by family tradition, by every measure of any diet known to man, (I thought) I was eating healthy. She never said what the measure of a diet is that can be defined by the word, "healthy".

Why is the word "healthy" such a secret?

In January 2019, my weight gain was stopped because I didn't eat meat anymore. I was going to tackle the next step which was my blood pressure issue. Lots of research on my part. Take oil/fat out of my diet and blood pressure will go down. I was doing damage with eating fat/oil. I also add in hibiscus tea and to fill the gap in hunger fill up on veg/fruit/grain/legume/seeds/nuts. That is McDougall. Have some potatoes, lots of them.

Use rice/potatoes/complex carbs for being 'full' with lots of veg/fruit for the nutrition it provides. Anti-oxidants, polyphenols, flavinols. Add spices and herbs for more. Spices and herbs are chalked full of all the good nutrients. They are almost magical but more than that, studies show they are beneficial to bodies. Use nuts and seeds to get a small amount of fat/oil in a more natural source, nothing refined. Get rid of anything left that is industrial food because it has oil/fat, sugar, and salt.

Salt was another culprit for reasons of blood pressure and the damage it does to produce disease. Just stop the salt, stop being assaulted.

My taste buds changed. Found out later, our taste buds regenerate within about 11 days, so once I stopped the salt/sugar/oil, food started tasting good again. Was it easy, HECK NO, but something had to change.

I started doing research in January 19, about an hour or 3 per day, to start to understand how to live more healthily by eating more healthy. And how exercise speeds up the regenerative process in our bodies so that when we do eat healthy it regenerates even faster.

I ran across McDougall, then Esselstyn, then Gregor, then Popper, then Barnard, and these doctors were all in agreement and had evidence in studies to prove that eating plants, whole food plant based, let's our bodies take care of themselves in a healthy way.

March 19, my husband said, what do you think I'll die from (knowing we'll all die someday)? I said, probably that pizza and hamburgers, cardiac disease. He wasn't going to join me in getting better health because well, he really enjoyed the taste of pizza and hamburgers. I asked him if he was willing to die over it? Are you willing to die with a lb of cheese in one hand and salami in the other hand, go to your grave that way? He said, yes.

April 19 middle of the month. He has a mild heart attack. (It was very painful, he was very scared, we were both scared.) Two days later, he subscribed to McDougall strict, or Esselstyn for his eating habits from then forward. During the next 12 weeks doctor's appointments, lab tests, hospital tests. At first a blockage that could be dealt with by bypass or stent. By 12 weeks, no blockage could be found by the cardiologist and he couldn't sell a stent or bypass operation.

We found out later with research into it, studies and evidence, stents and bypasses are great in an emergency situation but they don't help long term life. In the people that had stents and bypass operations, they lived through the moment, but their life was not made longer by getting them compared to people that didn't get them. (here's your bill $30,000 or $100,000 for that, and try to have a happy retirement if you have any money left)

That's kind of a shocking secret. Stents and Bypass operations are like bandaids for the moment, not a new lease on life.

If the body is not fed healthy plant food, it can't get better, so WE got better. It has been a joy to eat more healthy with my husband. I really like doing it together WITH him. And now it's 2021 and we both eat whole food plant based, strict McDougall or Esselstyn for heart disease.

What are the essential end products? Joint pain and aches and pains, gone. Weight loss, 55 and 45 lbs for us, good BMI's, general anxiety is gone, blood pressure normal, heart disease process, most likely reversed. Husband's total cholesterol level from 200's to 146 in 12 weeks and it's stayed there. LDL at 76. We still monitor cholesterol and ldl every 6 months. Months of digestive issues gone, skin problems gone.

I hope no one puts themselves through what we went through with the heart attack. It was a very tough time.

We enjoy our vegan wfpb'ed food now. We are both thankful for how it has helped us in our lives.

Well, that's the story. It wasn't easy at first but it got easier as time went on. I'm hoping to pick up a few good recipes here and make friends and learn things. I wish you all well, have a great day!
Hello Feather

I loved reading your post. Thank you so much for writing it.

I love your painting, too.
 
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What a wonderful story! Congratulations on turning your life around and figuring out a kinder and gentler way to live.

Be careful about reducing your salt intake. If you're avoiding all processed foods and buying low-sodium versions of things like canned tomatoes and beans, you can easily end up getting too little sodium. According to Dr. Neal Barnard, your body needs about 230 mg a day of sodium and loses an additional 1300 mg or so in sweat and urine depending on your level of physical activity. So you need to make sure you're getting at least 1500 mg, which is not such a small amount. Also check out what Dr. McDougall has written about this topic.
Hi, the issue with many vegan doctors is they do not all agree on the same topics. While I believe whole food carbohydrates are healthy,
I do not believe WHITE rice, or white sodium chloride (table salt), is healthy. I also do not believe that we NEED to eat salt. I respect Dr.
McDougall, but do not at all agree with his promotion of using lots of salt and eating white rice. Salt/high sodium intake is linked to strokes, inflammation in the feet and ankles, and high blood pressure.
There is plenty of sodium in foods like celery, tomatoes, spinach, and swiss chard, for instance. The vegan protein powders I use unfortunately have
added salt (Sun Warrior, Vivo, etcetera). It is very challenging to find sodium-free packaged foods, and even "Low sodium" packaged foods have
excessive amounts of salt in them. If humans need minerals, because our soil is depleted, most produce is grown in hydroponics, or they sweat
a lot--use ionic minerals or trace mineral liquids in your water--since we are low in iodine, use lugols iodine, eat clean seaweed from iceland, or take liquid iodine from globalhealingcenter.com. Do NOT eat table salt to get a source of iodine!. If someone HAS to have some extra salt, celtic sea salt, and, pink himalayan salt at least have 84 minerals in it. Cheers.
 
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Hi, the issue with many vegan doctors is they do not all agree on the same topics. While I believe whole food carbohydrates are healthy,
I do not believe WHITE rice, or white sodium chloride (table salt), is healthy. I also do not believe that we NEED to eat salt. I respect Dr.
McDougall, but do not at all agree with his promotion of using lots of salt and eating white rice. Salt/high sodium intake is linked to strokes, inflammation in the feet and ankles, and high blood pressure.
There is plenty of sodium in foods like celery, tomatoes, spinach, and swiss chard, for instance. The vegan protein powders I use unfortunately have
added salt (Sun Warrior, Vivo, etcetera). It is very challenging to find sodium-free packaged foods, and even "Low sodium" packaged foods have
excessive amounts of salt in them. If humans need minerals, because our soil is depleted, most produce is grown in hydroponics, or they sweat
a lot--use ionic minerals or trace mineral liquids in your water--since we are low in iodine, use lugols iodine, eat clean seaweed from iceland, or take liquid iodine from globalhealingcenter.com. Do NOT eat table salt to get a source of iodine!. If someone HAS to have some extra salt, celtic sea salt, and, pink himalayan salt at least have 84 minerals in it. Cheers.

To my knowledge Dr McDougall does not promote using LOTS of salt - a quote from the attached article...

So let me state a more moderate, socially acceptable, politically correct, viewpoint. Eating salt is not wrong when it is added in small amounts to otherwise healthy ingredients, like starches and vegetables. The basic ingredients of McDougall meals are very low sodium; you then add salt to taste.

If you google Dr McDougall salt - you will find his thoughts and reasons for them laid out quite clearly.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com
 
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To my knowledge Dr McDougall does not promote using LOTS of salt - a quote from the attached article...

So let me state a more moderate, socially acceptable, politically correct, viewpoint. Eating salt is not wrong when it is added in small amounts to otherwise healthy ingredients, like starches and vegetables. The basic ingredients of McDougall meals are very low sodium; you then add salt to taste.

If you google Dr McDougall salt - you will find his thoughts and reasons for them laid out quite clearly.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com
We all have the freedom of choice. Here is a video by Mcdougall, and a few vegan doctors have commented on his suggestions
as recommending too much salt. Cheers.
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