Want to adopt a vegan lifestyle?

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-09/diet/37580686_1_vegan-animal-products-mock-meat

From Natalie Portman to Beyonce and Chris Martin, several celebs are advocating veganism. Are we ready for it?

Veganism is slowly gaining ground as a lifestyle choice. It's finding strong support, notwithstanding the debate that surrounds it. Here's more on the subject...

Veganism vs vegetarianism

It's the practice of is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet. Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or poultry. Vegans, in addition to being vegetarian, do not use other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products.

Does it work for everyone?

Yes, you need not have a certain body type or physicalframe to follow this diet.

Clothing is going vegan too!

Being vegan is not just in diet, but also excludes animal products from one's clothing, cosmetics, household goods and things used everyday. Of these, clothing choices is gaining ground. People opt for cotton and synthetics. Leather or silk is an absolute no-no.

What meals comprise of 

The debate:

For

Those in favour of this regime maintain that animal products are toxic for the body. They say plant foods provide adequate amounts of minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants. An expert says it lowers cholesterol levels and vegans have fewer indigestion problems. The diet thus offers cardiovascular benefits. Since it includes fruit, vegetables, whole grains and unprocessed foods it is believed to be more nutritious.

Against 

Another doctor argues that the human body is designed to eat meat and underlines the importance of it. He says meat is a huge source of protein, iron, minerals and calcium. Experts also say this eating pattern allows no room for an intake of vitamin B12. Unfortunately for vegans, the only source of B12 is only via a supplement. One way out is to separate meat eating from fat on the meat. Pediatric doctors also maintain a vegan ideal is not ideal for kids as it offers less energy.

A dating site for vegans

If you're following the vegan pattern of eating and want to only meet someone who does similarly, it's now possible. Sites dedicated to vegetarians and vegans are increasingly popping up. So, if you want to find a vegan mate, chances are you can do so! Happy hunting!

Vegan weddings on the rise

Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied had a vegan wedding and recently, actress Anne Hathaway who wed jewellery designer Adam Shulman had a reception with complete vegan menu. More and more people are also choosing to go meatless and dairy-less at a

wedding. Brides are opting to wear richer cottons and synthetic silks instead of silk. The menus too, are

following vegan pattern. Will vegan style weddings overthrow the usual trend here too?

Alternatives 

Tips for going vegan:

Instead of ...

Meat: Use mock meat, tofu, soya chunks or soya mince, mushrooms or root vegetables. Mock meat such as faux chicken, mutton, fish and more can be used.

Ghee or butter: Use vegetable oils instead of ghee. Instead of butter, cook with vegetable margarines and oils.

Eggs in baking: Use self-rising flour, which is available in the market. Tofu, bananas, applesauce, pumpkin, squash, prunes and mashed potatoes are all good egg substitutes, depending on the nature of the dish.

Milk: Almond, coconut or soya milk can be used instead.

Method:

Heat the oil in and add the mushrooms to it. Sprinkle salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes. Pour the coconut cream over this. Now add the water and spring onion and cook further for a few minutes. Serve with rice.

Alicia Silverstone

The actress is a huge advocate of veganism and a site quotes her as saying, "Once I became vegan, my nails were stronger, my skin was glowing, I lost a lot of weight... Going vegan is the single best thing I've done in my life." Silverstone has also written a book on the subject and launched her own site to go with it.

Beyonce

The R n B singer is said to keep her pregnancy weight away by having one vegan meal a day. She had admitted in an interview that she avoids eating animal products to maintain her fit, post-baby body. According to a magazine, even during her pregnancy she and hubby Jay-Zboth stuck to a 'partially-vegan' diet to stay healthy.

Chris Martin

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and his actress wife Gwyneth Paltrow, are known for their love of vegan cuisine. So much so, that he apparently even provided a healthier alternative to the traditional birthday cake for his daughter Apple's first birthday in 2005. This was an apple cake made at a vegan eatery!

Natalie Portman

The Oscar-winning actress has been a vegetarian since childhood and she is said to have adopted veganism after reading the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. Natalie now doesn't eat or wear any animal products, and even launched her own vegan shoe line. Quite impressive!

Pamela Anderson

Model and actress Pamela Anderson who became a vegetarian as a teenager, regularly stands up for animal rights. A site quotes her having admitted that she feels better on a vegan diet. She switched to a vegan diet an and credited the plant-based eating plan for helping her stay fit.

Tobey Maguire

Actor Tobey Maguire is said to have banned all leather from his house too! He is a supporter of healthy vegetarian options for school lunches and takes a strict adherence to eating this way. Word also has it that for his role as Spiderman, he bulked up by eating lots of tofu.

Supply up, demand down?

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/supply-up-demand-down/827941/1 

There's a lot of vegan gyaan on the Internet. Some of them are calls of distress. Some are tales of surprise. And some more claim that veganism in India is a difficult bid. 'Vegan' originated from the word 'vegetarian' and is widely understood as a stricter version of vegetarianism. Its practitioners consume no animal food or dairy products. Many Puneri eateries have brushed up their menus to provide for the miniscule group of vegans in the city. 

The traditional thali, costing Rs 70, at Asha Dining Hall on Apte road is a vegan delight. Minus the curd and buttermilk, and the ghee on the hot fulkas of course! At the cash counter, owner Prakash Kina doesn't register the request for a 'vegan' thali , but obliges you when asked to keep the diary products out. "It’s not too difficult,” he says. "We anyway only offer curd or buttermilk with the menu, which can be removed, on request."

The city has many places like Asha Dining Hall on offer. But the principle of veganism continues to evade the understanding of most eateries in the city. At Aromas on FC road, chef Tejas Vilankar explains the reason for the lesser-known concept. "It’s easy to give any dish on the menu a vegan twist, but such requests are quite rare. That is one reason why most places would not even know what a vegan diet is all about." At Aromas, he promises you a spiced up vegan dish from the Italian menu. Same for Dario’s situated on Lane 1, Koregaon Park. Owner Dario Dezio instantly understands a request for a vegan version. But even here, not many ask for it.

Then there are some who have tried to inculcate certain ideas of veganism in their menu cards. At the Cofee Café Day, the Vegan Shake comes with an interesting description - "Milk not your thing? This refreshing cold coffee on ice tastes smooth and creamy without milk. No one misses out on the fun!" Priced at Rs 76, the Vegan Shake is actually espresso coffee served chilled. Similarly, the Sorbetto at Ti Amo is a resplendent delight. The Musk Melon flavour that is available all through the year at Rs 70 fulfills the vegan’s need for yummy desserts.

Vegans have also given impetus to a whole new range of food products – right from packaged soya, tofu to exotic veggies. But this, according to 19-year-old Zuri Camille de Souza, is precisily the reason she quit being a vegan. "The market of imported vegan products have diluted the idea of veganism. I started it as a way to show my environmental concerns, but had to quit later," says De Souza, who had no problems in being a vegan as her hostel in Pune catered to that food alternative. "After I finished school, I felt out of place at the dining table," says De Souza. "I realised that I was practising something which was a part of the viscous circle of consumerism and market." But being a vegan creates a demand for a whole new set of products like soy milk to make up for the lost protein. "Packaged soy milk has more carbon foot-prints than any other non-vegan food, so it is pointless."

Shantaram Kane, the author of Diet and Lifestyle: Health in the 21st Century, does not reject veganism on ideological grounds, but on arithmetical grounds. "One gram of protein is required for every one kilogram of body weight. I wonder about their protein intake given the fact that they do not consume milk products." 

My take

Vegan articles in Indian newspapers bring a smile on every vegan and animal rights activist’s face. But more often than not, the articles give a somewhat negative take on veganism. This particular article lists food joints in Pune which include or can arrange for a vegan meal/snack which is helpful.

It also highlights the experience of a 19-year-old Zuri Camille de Souza who turned vegan due to environmental concerns but quit later because vegan packaged food products have more carbon footprints. I would say this is a result of limited knowledge. Soy is not the only source of plant based protein. There are many Indian vegan sources of plant based foods which can fulfill the daily protein requirement of human body. A list of these foods is produced below to prove the point. (I have also listed some sources which are readily available in certain parts of Europe and USA for the benefit of varied readers).

"One gram of protein is required for every one kilogram of body weight. I wonder about their protein intake given the fact that they do not consume milk products." This quote of Shantaram Kane comes as a shock to me since he is the author of Diet and Lifestyle: Health in the 21st Century. But on second thought, many nutritionists are not aware of the wide array of plant based protein foods. I have listed few of plant based foods with amount of protein content. This list is an output of my brief research. I am sure there are many more sources. A combination of these can be used in different meals to meet the daily requirement of protein.

The RDA recommends that we take in 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram that we weigh.
Protein content of few plant based foods:

100g chickpea (chana)-17.1g
100g spilt chickpea (chana dal)-20.8g
100g chickpea with brown skin (kala chana)-22.5g
100g black gram (urad dal whole)-24g
100g mung beans (moong dal)- 24g
100g kidney beans (rajmah)-22.9g
One cup lima beans (sem phali) - 14.66g
One cup dried spirulina- 64.37g
One cup French beans- 12.48g
100g rye- 10.34g
100g oats- 16.89g
100 g Soy Beans- 35.22g
100g finger millet (ragi) - 7.7g
One cup boiled peas - 8.58g
One ounce cashew nuts- 5.17 grams
One ounce peanuts- 6.71 g
One ounce pumpkin seeds- 8.46g
One sunflower seed kernels- 5.48 g
100g durum wheat -13.68 g
100g hard red wheat-15.40 g
100g hard white wheat- 11.31g
100 grams of buckwheat- 13.25 grams

India is the highest producer of millets. The protein content in millet is very close to that of wheat; both provide about 11% protein by weight. 

There is an urgent need to make nutritionists, journalists, etc aware of the wide range of plant based food which can easily meet the nutritional requirements of the human body. In such articles the focus should be on creating awareness on wholesome vegan foods.  

Source:http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/nut-seed-nutrition-chart.html
http://vegweightlossdiets.com/good-diet/ragi-nutrition/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millet#Nutrition 
http://www.dietnut.in/NVF-2.html

Illegal slaughter killed 110 cow breeds

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_illegal-slaughter-killed-110-cow-breeds_1572891
 

Ahmedabad: A day after police detained a truck carrying 167 cows near Shyamlaji, city cops detained a truck in Saraspur carrying cows.

Widespread trafficking of cows has raised concerns about disappearing of several important breeds of cows.

A Delhi-based trust has come up with a shocking claim.The illegal slaughter of cows has led to some 110 breeds of the animal going extinct in the country since Independence. According to figures provided by the Akhil Bharatiya Go-Sanvradhan, the country had some 118 breeds of cows till 1947. But now the trust says only 18 of them survive.

The trust has blamed the large scale slaughter of the animal for the drop in number of breeds. "Prior to 1947, India had over 48 crore of cows. But now it is just 6 crore," said national president of the trust Swami Swayamanad Giri.

He was speaking at a press meet on Thursday. 

These claims are supported by other organisations of the city working to prevent the illegal slaughter of cows in the city. Tejabhai Desai, a social worker said kidnap and slaughter of cows has seen a rise in and around the city. 

He said that for the last one year butchers have been active in villages surrounding the city. "On Monday, 8 cows in Shertha village of Kalol had gone missing. Similarly, Maaldhari boys spotted butchers trying to escape with 4 cows in Santej village," said Desai. 

He claimed that in the last few months more than 70 vehicles loaded with cows or beef have been detained in Dholka taluka alone. "This is the reason why cow population is going down. Government and police must do something to stop this illegal slaughter" said Desai.

The picture is even gloomier in Ahmedabad city, as illegal trafficking and slaughtering of cows has become a regular affair. According to Nagji Desai, president of Maaldhari Ekta Samiti, in the last one month eight vehicles loaded with beef have been seized by the police. 

He claimed that cow stealing was particularly rampant in areas like Ramol, Isanpur, Bapunagar and Shahpur. In a meeting with state DGP, on Monday, Desai had accused gangs from Juhapura, Bapunagar and Dani Limda of targeting cows roaming on city roads. Desai said cow trafficking and slaughtering is a lucrative business as the meat from a single cow fetches about Rs6000.He also said that inter-state gangs were involved in this business.

Earlier on Wednesday, Shamlajee police had detained a truck carrying 167 cows and calves. The truck with a Madhya Pradesh registration number was trying to enter Gujarat during the night.According to Shamlajee police, the 10 wheeled truck was jam packed with cows. Due to congestion, 66 cows and calves died. Earlier, following a representation by the Maaldhari community, Chitranjan Singh, state Director General of Police (DGP) had asked the concerned heads of police stations to curb the menace. 

"We are working towards curbing the menace. We will also ensure that the offenders do not get bail easily," said Singh. He also ordered that more vehicles be hired for patrolling in the night. 

My take 

It’s a shame that such act of cruelty is taking place in Gujarat which is known as the vegetarian state. This is a result of the cruel dairy industry. Dairy and meat industry are two sides of the same coin. The ‘unproductive’ animals such as old cows, bulls, etc and ‘uneconomical’ animals such as male calves are sold to the meat industry. Keeping them alive does not yield any profit to the dairy owners, so they prefer earning money by selling them to slaughterhouses.  The only way to minimize this atrocity is by turning vegan or at least making a sincere effort to reduce consumption of milk and milk products.