The word antioxidants is peddled around all over wellness sites and on food products touting near-magical health benefits. But what are antioxidants, really, and why are they important? Explain to me like I’m 34 and never really made the effort to understand… (that’s me, by the way).
Food additives and E numbers
You know when you check food ingredients and you find a list of incomprehensible food additives? Yeah, it can be disconcerting. I’m hoping to share a bit about what why they’re there and what ‘E numbers’ are. That way, you can empower yourself to make more informed food choices – since the food industry doesn’t always play along.
Why we should eat breakfast
Friends, I’ve changed my mind about breakfast. For the last couple of years, I’ve been calling myself “not a breakfast person” – simply because I’m not hungry until 12 pm or so. I have my coffee (sometimes black, sometimes with soy milk), and my stomach doesn’t talk to me until later. But like I said, I’ve changed my mind, and I’m making a point to eat breakfast before 11 am.
Water: the number one nutrient in our diet
I have to say that I haven’t been able to create or maintain an adequate hydration habit. One glance at my habit tracker says as much. I’m writing this after a second cup of coffee; I’m already feeling a little sluggish and I catch myself thinking about yet another one. Even when I know, after all the reading I’ve done for this blog post, …
Smoothies, Salads, Soups & Stews
I’m an avid habit-tracking (and bullet journaling) enthusiast, and one of the things that I try to check off daily is “Smoothie, Salad, Soup or Smoothie”. Even if my other meals are monotonous and dull, just having that one “S-meal” (as I call it) per day helps ensure that I ingest a wider variety of foods. A diversity of whole, plant-based …
Coffee lovers, this one’s for you
I’ve gotta say, I love my strong morning coffee. It’s a daily ritual that gets me buzzing, and I’m quite ok to be labelled a coffeeholic. Although if I’m honest, I probably don’t need it. On the odd occasion when I’ve run out of coffee, I’ve managed without a problem. But I figured it’s probably a good idea to learn …
How to get enough omega-3 fatty acids on a vegan diet
Hold on tight! We’re uncovering some of the mysteries of essential fatty acids, why they’re important, where we can find them in foods, and whether we should supplement them. I’m rarely satisfied with a cursory overview and find myself digging into the details to understand as much as possible. This is a fascinating topic with still-evolving research, and I hope …
Mushroom super-powers
I love mushrooms, and I get a bunch pretty much every time I do a grocery haul. Their texture can be astonishingly meaty (have you tried my Meaty Marinated Mushrooms?) and they bring wonderful umami to a dish. I have, however, come across fringe questions about whether they’re even vegan – it never occurred to me to asked myself that question! I knew that …
5 reasons not to peel your fruit & veg
To peel, or not to peel? That is the question of many a home cook. You know how it goes: that recipe you saved looks so simple, so quick, and then you notice that sneaky extra step: “wash and peel the potatoes” and you think “uhhh… I’ve got better things to do with my time than peel potatoes!” I hear …
For the love of soy
I’ve been vegan almost 10 years, and even now, I hear the adage about soy being unsustainable (or a health threat) almost as often as I did back then. The livestock industry has done a pretty good job at vilifying this little bean. Nowhere in the history of agriculture has a bean caused so much upset in the world – …
Chocolate Protein Power Smoothie
This one is for the runners, the gym bunnies, the climbing nuts. A delicious, milkshakey chocolate smoothie with a whopping 29 grams of protein to power your workout.
Powering your workouts with plants
So you want to power your workouts with plants, but conventional wisdom (i.e. the guy at the gym) is telling you that you need way more protein than you’re already getting, and that protein == meat (or dairy, or egg whites). This is far from the full picture. Muscles are made of protein Muscles are made up of water, protein, …
Vegan Dog Treats with Peanut Butter & Oats
It’s time to get the vegan dog treats out! There’s something really special about sharing your home with a furry companion, and learning each other’s quirks. As I mentioned in my post about vegan dogs, not only can dogs thrive on plants, but it’s way better for the planet, and for the wallet.
Eggs: should we be eating them?
Eggs have been the topic of some heated debate in recent years. Should we be eating them? From a health perspective, there’s quite a lot of controversy in the media, as one study contradicts another, every other year. There are definitely some points in favour in eating eggs. They’re a convenient source of nutrition, they can be used in myriad ways to …
Can dogs be vegan?
It looks like I may soon be sharing my new home with a beautiful big diva of the canine persuasion. Therefore, I figured it would be a good time to read up about dogs and a vegan diet – and share my learnings here. Companion animals globally have a massive environmental footprint. So if it’s possible to reduce their impact …
Diabetes, insulin resistance & diet
Following my first post about Carbs vs Fats, I’m looking into insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes. I always thought of diabetes as an irreversible illness where you’d have to take injections every day for the rest of your life. But I’ve learnt a bit more and the great news is, that’s not true. First, some basics: What is insulin? Insulin …
Collagen on a vegan diet
A star of the beauty industry and the subject of recent bone both trends, collagen has become all the rage as a ‘must-have’ part of a supplementing regime to ensure strong nails, shiny hair, youthful skin. But is it necessary to supplement it? You might have realised that it’s not something that folks on a plant-based diet typically supplement, for the simple reason that …
The Daily Dozen Challenge
The most helpful guide for a healthy diet that I’ve ever come across, hands-down, is called the Daily Dozen Challenge. It’s created by Dr Michael Greger (founder of NutritionFacts.org), from having researched the special benefits of different plant-food groups. It’s all very well to say that it’s best to eat a whole food plant-based diet, but different foods have very different benefits that are often not shared …
- Page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2