Category Archives: Vegetarianism

We all know that fitness is more than simply going to the gym, and staying on top of your mind, body, and lifestyle wellness is more important than ever. Weve put together a list of four trends to add to your active lifestyle and help you maintain all-around fitness. Whether youre an active aging expert, or are just starting on your journey, these trends are a great addition to your day-to-day wellness routine.

Sharp & Focused

Its been a bit of a stressful year for everyone, and stress tends to reduce our mental capacity and focus. Thats okay! It just means we need to be intentional about maintaining, or regaining, our focus--and we have the perfect suggestion:

This tip has multiple benefits. Harvard Health explains that novel tasks and information (learning something new) stimulate the brain and help keep it sharp and agile. If you track your progress in writing, with quick summaries of the new information or skills you learn each day, you add another layer to your brain workout. The process of writing, particularly by hand, improves retention and memory, and can also boost your mood.

Staying Fit

Lets face it: as the weather gets colder, this years health and safety guidelines mean well be spending more time inside than usual. If youre someone who walks, runs, bikes, or hikes every day, you may be wondering how youll keep up your exercise routine through the winter. Thats where this active aging trend comes in:

The advantages of body weight training cannot be understated. First of all, its always accessible, no matter the time of day or night, the weather outside, or the health and safety considerations in the community. With body weight training, its you making yourself more fit.

Beyond convenience, body weight training offers the advantage of meeting your ability where its at and improving your strength, balance, and coordination based on your bodys unique needs. Try these five SilverSneakers bodyweight exercises for a simple, but effective, do-anywhere workout.

Internal Insights

Youve got the mind and the body taken care of, but lets not forget your gut. What we eat has the power to give or take energy, and increase mental and physical wellness. One of the top trends this year (and the last few years) continues to be big, but also flexible enough to fit into your personal dietary needs:

Plant-based has become a broader dietary term that encompasses more than just vegetarianism and veganism. Plant-based eating emphasizes fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, and grains. For some, it means going strictly vegan, and for others it means simply reducing the amount of meat and dairy products they eat on a daily or weekly basis. If you fall into the latter category, choose a meal or two each week to go veg, or find ways to pack your meal plan with even more fruits and veggies.

Benefits of plant-based eating include improving heart health, gut health, and mental acuity. Plant-based eating is also good for the environment.

Active Living

Active living involves all the ways you fill your time with friends, family, entertainment, and hobbies. While travel and large gatherings are somewhat restricted at the moment, the changes are allowing for new experiences. Try this new trend to keep active this fall:

Many restaurants have expanded their seating areas onto sidewalks and streets. Its a refreshing way to support local establishments and enjoy fresh air and community ambiance. Some are even petitioning for the permanent adoption of expanded dining areas. Make a list of places to lunch, and meet up with your friends or family outside for some good food and crisp, fall air.

Active aging is an art, and the trends that support it evolve along with the times. Use these suggestions to help you keep your routine fresh and keep yourself fit inside and out.

Active Aging is presented by (sponsor). (2-3 sentences about sponsor)

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The Pillars Of Active Aging: Top Tips For Staying Fit In Mind, Body, And Lifestyle - NOLA.com

Cutting meat isnt going to fix all your dietary problems; it requires careful thought

ANISSA CHAK

Vegetarianism and veganism can be good, but you need to ensure you get the right nutrients and vitamins.

If you look at celebrities today, you will notice that many follow a new fad diet focused around vegetarianism. Fans want to mimic their idols in everything, including eating habits.

There are many reasons to become vegetarian, but I want to highlight some of the health benefits. Lets look together at the benefits and limitations of being a vegetarian. I want to be clear it is about being vegetarian, not vegan.

April Davis, clinical assistant professor of nutrition, said vegetarians can still eat animal products like eggs and milk. However, vegans do not eat any animal byproducts only plant-based products. I think this is a crucial difference to understand.

First of all, a healthy human diet should include many micro and macromolecules to keep us healthy and alive. Some vital amino acids are only in the food we can get from animals.

There are nine amino acids that our bodies cannot produce, Davis said. We need to get them from another source. Some of them we can get from plants and some from animals.

Animal food consists of significant elements we need to build up our bodies to survive. Amino acids are vital for building muscular tissue and proteins. Proteins provide a crucial role in every mechanism in the human body.

I think it is probably better to have meat for some micronutrients, but we do not need it every day for sure, said Franck Carbonero, assistant professor of nutrition. A few times per week will be enough to supply us with the necessary nutrients.

Some people can argue that we can get those nutrients from special supplements and not kill animals. I think we should realize that many people today do not have access to those supplements and meat is their only source of the amino acids.

Being wise in everything we are doing is the key. Any fanaticism in a daily diet is wrong. Overeating meat is wrong because it can make you sick. If you cannot get all the necessary vitamins and nutrients, the diet is wrong, even if you think it looks correct based on your personal moral code.

Carbonero said having a balance in food is critical for the human bodys welfare. Too much meat also can cause many diseases, including high blood pressure, problems with blood vessels and others.

If your idea of a vegetarian diet is one is full of minimally processed vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, nuts and other plant-based foods, said Pablo Monsivais, associate professor of nutrition, there is no doubt that it is a healthy pattern.

Theres nothing necessarily wrong with eating anything you want, but it is a good idea to talk to your physician first. If you do not know how to balance your daily food, it is worth talking to a specialist.

If you want to be a vegetarian all your life, you can have a balanced diet and never eat any meat, Davis said.

The main component of being healthy is to have a balanced diet, full of vegetables and fruits and less processed food full of sugars. It is a personal choice to eat meat or not. Its always a good idea to talk to your physician before making any radical changes in the food.

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OPINION: Vegetarianism isn't a cure-all The Daily Evergreen - The Daily Evergreen

Last month, the National Vegetarian Museum in Chicagochanged its name to The Vegan Museum to better reflect the organisations mission to promote vegan lifestyles for health, the environment and all animals. It represents the only institution of its kind, dedicated to documenting the deep and rich history of the vegetarian movement in the U.S. with travelling exhibitions and events displayed across the Chicago metropolitan area. Now, if youre wondering what you might learn strolling through the halls of the museum, here are 8 fun facts about the museum and things you should know about the history of vegans.

Paul Obis began selling his magazine The Vegetarian Times off his bike when he first founded it. After many years, it grew into a major publication providing the public with a news source for the vegan and vegetarian scene. And the first ever edition of the magazine is displayed at The Vegan Museum, containing many articles written by Obis himself!

While other museums may include vegetarianism or veganism as part of their exhibitions, The Vegan Museum is the only one dedicated to preserving specifically the history of the topic and educating visitors about the multitude of benefits that come with living a vegan lifestyle, from saving all animals from exploitation to our own health, and the planets too.

Kay Stepkin started the museum after realising that she did not open the first vegetarian eatery in Chicago. After learning that Bread Shop wasnt the first meatless business in the region (it holds the title of being the first modern vegetarian eatery), she found out that Chicago in fact possesses a rich history of vegetarianism that dated as far back as 1893. It inspired her to create the museum to educate more people about the vegan movement.

The National Vegetarian Museum changed its name to The Vegan Museum on September 2, what would have been Donald Watsons 110th birthday. Watson, founder of the Vegan Society, coined the term veganism and the museum decided it was the perfect timing to honour his work and more accurately reflect the organisations mission.

The interactive story map shows viewers Illinois history in vegetarianism and veganism, from an old advertisement for Chicagos first vegetarian restaurants to vegetarianism appearing at the famous fair, the Worlds Columbian Exposition in 1893. A companion story map is now being compiled to chronicle the development of the plant-based movement across the entire U.S.

Called Protose and known as vegetable meat, it was one of the first commercially available meat substitutes to appear in the U.S. and was developed in the Midwest by J. H. Kellogg. It primarily contained peanuts and wheat gluten, and the museum says that recipes are still available today!

Among the facts that youll learn at The Vegan Museum is that Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher famous for the Pythagorass theorem and other mathematical and musical developments, was a vegetarian. And it was known that anyone who wished to study with him had to adhere to his diet.

As a travelling museum, the organisation hosts different speaker events, documentary screenings, food demonstrations and more! Theyve even held a childrens book reading by international author Hlne Defossez. Among some of the speakers featured at the museum include author Victoria Moran, chef and educator Jill Keb, and Robert Grillo, an animal welfare activist and director of nonprofit Free From Harm.

Lead image courtesy of Markus Spiske / Unsplash.

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8 Fun Facts You Should Know About The Worlds First Vegan Museum - Green Queen Media

Not much cooking, grilling or smoking going on.

After living in the same home for 20 years, we decided to take on some updates, especially in the kitchen. The end result is certainly fun to look forward to, but it has taken away our ability to cook for the last week or so.

Given this challenge, we have been eating out quite a bit. And during this time, we have stumbled across something that has us fascinated, that being ground beet meat tacos.

If you are a regular reader of this column and you have a good memory, you might recall that Liz and I decided to go vegetarian for one month earlier this year. It wasnt nearly as tough as we thought it would be and we came across some really good recipes we have used since then.

We even learned how to properly prepare tofu, although I will admit we havent made a tofu dish since our month of vegetarianism.

And now having experienced beet meat, the next time we engage in a month or so of vegetarianism, I wont have to run to Burger King to get a vegetarian Whopper when confronted with a craving for beef. And I certainly wont try to fix some bean-based burger patties on the grill. Those darn things simply taste like seasoned beans with the texture of.well...beans.

Ill just whip up something with beet meat. But it got me curious as to whether I was overly exaggerating how good this stuff was. So Liz and I decided to meet up with some friends at the restaurant where we discovered beet meat tacos and had them try them. They also thought they were eating ground beef. It really has the color, texture and flavor of beef. How in the world do they do that? Enquiring foodie minds need to know.

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The challenge with creating plant-based meat products that taste and feel like meat is due to the obvious differences between plants and meat. Meat is basically muscle, and muscle is springy and elastic. Plants obviously dont have muscles, so the cell structure is rigid, which gives most plants a rigid, crunchy texture when raw. So dietitians and scientists for years have been trying to mimic the springiness of meat in a vegetable product.

Voila! They have now isolated wheat and pea proteins, which duplicate the springiness of protein. Whats the second characteristic that makes a great taco or a juicy burger? Fat. Animal fat provides a mouth-coating feel.

Think of it this way. Olive oil and vegetable oil tends to be in liquid form at room temperature, whereas animal fat is not in a liquid state. The compromise at this point tends to be coconut oil, which like animal fat is not in a liquid state at room temperature.

This is an area they are continuing to improve on and perfect. And in terms of the color, beets like raw beef are naturally red. As far as flavoring, thats a closely held secret by the companies that produce these products.

Bottom line, give beet meat a try. I think you will be as pleasantly surprised as we were.

Dave Lobeck is an Edward Jones Financial Adviser in Jeffersonville, Indiana, by day and a BBQ enthusiast on nights and weekends. Liz is his wife. You can contact Dave with your BBQ, cooking or grilling questions at davelobeck@gmail.com. You can also visit their YouTube channel at http://www.YouTube.com/BBQMyWay.

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It's time to give beet meat a chance - New Castle News

Mique, an eight-seat vegan restaurant run out of a garage in Komazawa, is sometimes mistaken for someones home. The space is bright and airy, and the walls are filled with rotating art exhibits. Its here owner-chef Keiko Seto crafts an astounding variety of plant-based delicacies that have drawn the attention of chef Amanda Cohen of New York Citys groundbreaking vegetarian restaurant, Dirt Candy, and garnered inclusion in Momoko Nakamuras Plant-based Tokyo.

Back in 2011, Seto was the art director for an international advertising agency. When the Great East Japan earthquake and nuclear disaster struck, she found herself at a pivot point.

Some people think I made a drastic change from being an art director to cook, she recalls as she dices mushrooms for the evening dinner service, but for me its the same flow. The medium has changed, but Im still doing something creative.

It was a life-changing moment for me. When the earthquake came, she says. I thought I should focus on what I love, and that was food.

Seto resigned and enrolled at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York, attracted to the institutes focus on vegetarian and plant-forward cuisines within a broad range of traditions. When I was a child, I had eczema, and certain chemically treated foods cause symptoms, so my passion was healthy food and doing something positive for the planet, Seto says. Vegan food was the only choice for me, but I didnt want to put myself in a box. The school gave me more freedom to be creative by not limiting me to a certain type of cooking.

After graduation, she honed her culinary skills at restaurants in New York and New Orleans before returning to Japan in early 2013 to work at a Michelin-starred kaiseki (traditional multicourse) restaurant in Tokyo. But Seto soon learned of a space a former snack bar available in Shinagawa. It was tiny, old and needed lots of work, but she decided to take the opportunity to step out on her own.

When Mique finally opened in early 2015 after a year of renovation, Seto knew it would be a waiting game. Though vegan and vegetarian restaurants were finding success in places like New York and London, they hadnt made much ground in Japan. At the beginning, I only got people I knew, she says. I opened just two or three days a week, but I was committed. I believed in the positive effects of plant-based eating and practicing vegetarianism for the planet and all living beings.

Plant-based fusion: Miques menu incorporates French, Ayurvedic, Italian and Japanese traditions. | MICHAEL HARLAN TURKELL

Seto illustrates her conviction with mouthwatering recipes forged from the seasonal bounty of the organic growers and producers in her network. A single menu blends French, Ayurvedic, Italian and Japanese traditions together for a meal unlike any other anywhere else in Tokyos plant-based scene.

The result is dishes such as zunda croquette (fried green soybean and potato balls); cappelletti pasta filled with lentils, mushrooms and walnuts; or a savory onion tart infused with rum and cloves accented by a decorative cup of homemade mustard or jewel-toned pickled Brazilian peppers and tiny cucumbers. On another day, she might offer tofu noodles dressed with sesame chili oil and topped with filaments of long onion, cilantro and a single pansy on a handmade ceramic plate. I sometimes pick ideas from shjin ryri (Buddhist cuisine), raw food or open a traditional French cookbook and convert the recipe into a vegetarian or vegan dish, Seto says.

When she learned the Shinagawa building was to be demolished in 2017, a friend suggested Seto rent their garage. Not much bigger than the first Mique, Seto snapped it up. The small, now renovated space, suits her style. I like to pay attention to each small detail when cooking, she says. By doing everything with my own two hands, I transmit my love, dedication and care into the food, and people can feel it.

Three years later, and eight months into the pandemic, Seto and Mique are still going strong. Although she temporarily reduced the number of seats from eight to six, and now only takes reservations, her passion is not curbed.

Food serves a purpose, Seto says. It makes people happy. When people tell me this food was really yummy and they feel nourished, its the best reward I could get from creating something.

For more information, visit mique-plantbasedfood.com. Women of Taste is a monthly series looking at notable female figures in Japans food industry.

In line with COVID-19 guidelines, the government is strongly requesting that residents and visitors exercise caution if they choose to visit bars, restaurants, music venues and other public spaces.

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Keiko Seto pushes the limits of vegan food - The Japan Times

Yesterday (12 October), the Supreme Court of India dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Akhand Bharat Morcha' (ABM) which sought a ban on halal slaughter of animals for food.

Even the European Court of Justice has ruled that 'halal' is extremely painful...there are many reports which suggest that extreme pain and suffering is inflicted on the animal in the process", the counsel for the ABM argued.

But the bench of Justices S K Kaul and Dinesh Maheshwari termed the PIL mischievous.

Halal is only a method of doing so. Different ways are possible there is 'halal', there is 'jhatka'. Some people do 'jhatka', some do 'halal', how is it a problem? Some people want to eat 'halal' meat, some want to eat 'jhatka' meat, some want to eat reptile meat, Justice Kaul said.

Tomorrow you will say nobody should eat meat? We cannot determine who should be a vegetarian and who should be a non vegetarian!", he added.

The PIL didnt seek a ban on non-vegetarianism. When the SC passed a correct judgment on the Triple Talaq case, it didnt say tomorrow you will seek a ban on divorce itself. But resorting to such logic has become a feature of the court in recent times when it is confronted with uncomfortable questions of the law.

Moreover, halal is not just a method of slaughter of animals just like jhatka, as Justice Kaul opined. Halal is one of the biggest threats to an inclusive economy, as I explained in this video.

Unlike jhatka, which is not a religious method of slaughter, halal requires that the butcher must be a Muslim, be authorised and be under the supervision of a certified Islamic organisation, and slaughter the animal according to Islamic rite including recitation of 'Bismillah Allahu-Akbar' before slaughtering each animal.

Therefore, the creation of the halal meat industry effectively means of the Muslims, by the Muslims, for everyone.

Legitimising halal meat means giving constitutional sanction to monopolising a multi-billion dollar industry by members of one religion.

Additionally, even vegetarian products can be halal. In fact, halal is not about only food either, as is generally misunderstood.

Some of the products which are given halal certification include non-alcohol beverages, raw materials needed in food processing, pharmaceutical and healthcare products, traditional herbal products, cosmetics and personal care products, cleaning products, daily consumable products and leather-made products (e.g. shoes, furniture and hand-bag).

It is understandable if the highest court of the country doesnt want to pronounce judgment on whether halal meat should be banned, for that is the domain of the executive, but the Justices have not covered themselves in glory by rejecting a PIL in this regard.

Nonetheless, the ball is in the Centres court. It can and should take on the discriminatory and exclusionary halal meat industry by making the practice illegal.

The government can justify such a move on secular grounds by making a case that barbaric methods of slaughter such as halal cannot be allowed in the 21st century. Some European countries have already implemented this.

In 2009, the European Unions Council Regulation mandated that animals should be stunned before they are slaughtered; however, these allowed member-States to carve out exceptions in case of ritual slaughter (halal, kosher, et cetera).

But five countries Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Slovenia havent done so. In Belgium, two out of three regions (Walloon and Flemish) have also taken a similar stance.

In 2014, Denmark banned kosher and non-sedated halal slaughter, though religious slaughter is allowed but only after the animal is sedated.

However, those who wish to exclusively have halal or kosher meat can do so by importing it from abroad.

Similarly, Iceland also allows for import of kosher and halal meat, but has effectively banned kosher and non-sedated halal slaughter.

Norway, too, requires all animals to be sedated before slaughtering.

All ritual slaughter has been banned in Slovenia since 2012. Sweden, whose eight per cent population subscribes to Islam, has also not carved out any exception for ritual slaughter and the country mandates that animals must be sedated before butchering.

Sixteen other European nations have made stunning a requirement before slaughter of animals, but have made exceptions in case of religiously sanctioned killing of animals.

These vary from country to country. For instance, France requires that animals must be stunned before they are killed, but those who wish to adopt halal method have to take additional permission and the slaughterhouses need to show that they have proper tools and facilities that meet hygiene requirements prescribed in French regulations.

All these countries are hailed as democracies which are secular in nature and greatly respect diversity.

Yet, they have gone to great lengths to check the ritual slaughter like halal.

They all justify it as compassion towards animals. Of course, if India does it, the same western countries, which hardly raise any voice over actions of European countries, will wax eloquent on freedom of religion, right to choice of food and what not.

When the West advocates for saving cows, it is projected as caring for the environment. When India does it, its Hindu majoritarianism.

Such double standards are all too common.

India should chart its own path without caring two hoots about what the hypocrites of the world think. Not only does it need to implement more compassionate methods of slaughtering animals, but must also have regulations on animal slaughter which are in line with the norms of the 21st century.

As I wrote earlier, even Islamic countries fare better than India in this regard.

Only humane ways of slaughtering animals (stunning them before butchering) should be allowed in the country.

Even if an exemption is made for ritual slaughter and for festivals like Bakr-Eid, they must be restricted to licensed abattoirs which strictly adhere to state regulations regarding public health, hygiene, waste disposal, et cetera.

Thats the way to go.

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Supreme Court Wont Ban Halal Slaughter But The Government Must; Many European Countries Have Already Done So - Swarajya