One Great Reason To Become Vegetarian
Give me some seconds and I’ll give you 1 very good reason to become vegetarian.
While fish is the key dietary source of the long-chain omega-3s eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, that have been shown to be important in supporting brain health, low intake of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in vegetarians won’t adversely affect mood, according to a new research (Nutr J. 2010;9:26. DOI:10.1186/1475-2891-9-26).
A research team from Arizona State University conducted a cross-sectional study to check the mood of vegetarians who never eat fish with the mood of healthy omnivorous adults.
A total of 138 healthy Seventh Day Adventist adults living in Arizona and California (64 vegetarians and 79 non-vegetarians) were enrolled in the study and completed a health history questionnaire, food frequency questionnaire and two psychometric tests, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and the Profile of Mood States..
Vegetarians had significantly lower mean intakes of eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and also the omega-6 arachidonic acid; they had higher intakes of the omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid and the omega-6 linoleic acid.
“Seed oils are the richest sources of α-linolenic acid, notably those of rapeseed (canola), soybeans, walnuts, flaxseed (Linseed oil), clary sage seeds, perilla, chia, and hemp.”
However, the vegetarians also reported considerably less negative emotion than omnivores in psychometric tests. Mean total psychometric scores were positively associated with the mean intakes of eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid , and inversely related to alpha-linolenic acid and linolenic acid intake.
The study team noted there is also the chance that vegetarians may make smarter dietary choices and could generally be healthier and happier.
If you want to give it a try, the following is a good example of vegetarian recipe according to Italian cuisine
Italian Spaghetti with Zucchini
Ingredients:
* 17 oz. Spaghetti
* 24 oz. Of thin sliced zucchini
* 1 / 2 cup walnuts oil
* Some basil leaves
* 2 tablespoons of yeast flakes
* Salt and pepper
In a large skillet heat the oil and when hot, add garlic and zucchini. Raise heat and stir often to complete their cooking. They should be golden and crispy outside and tender inside. Cook the pasta, drain and sauté in pan with zucchini, basil and yeast. Serve immediately.
Zucchini contain fewer calories and possess no fat. However they are a good source of potassium, e vitamin, ascorbic acid, folate, lutein and zeaxanthin.
Many of these nutrients are very sensitive to heat and to enjoy their benefits you should find a quick solution to cook or even eat raw in salads.
From the therapeutic standpoint, zucchini have laxative, refreshing, anti-inflammatory, diuretic and detoxifying action.
About the writer – Louise Infante writes for the vegetarian menu ideas blog , her personal hobby blog focused entirely on vegetarian cooking tips to help individuals live better.
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Chocolate-Related Recipes And Vegetarian Diet Restrictions
Chocolates for Vegetarians
Vegetarians say they can not eat chocolate because it is a dairy food and it contains eggs. There are chocolates which are now commercially available that claims to be vegetarian friendly as they do not contain eggs and dairy food. These chocolates are diabetic friendly as well and are available in different flavors such as mint, spicy, pure dark, vanilla bean, citrus, chocolate coconut, pink peppercorn, chocolate crispies, chocolate toasted almond and pure dark organic.
Delectable, smooth, sweet, calming… ahhhh, that’s the goodness chocolate can bring. Be it a bar or a drink, chocolate can indeed make a person’s day complete. From toddlers to grandmothers, chocolate is truly a treat to beat. It is not called “happy hormones” for nothing. However, there are people who have health conditions or dietary preferences that forbid them to enjoy chocolate. But there are chocolate-related recipes we may be unaware of that would be heaven sent for people with specific health conditions.
Making Chocolates Health-Sensitive
Most chocolate-related recipes make use of the typical and readily-available chocolate in stores, plain, sugar-loaded dairy products. Because of this, the market of the chocolate products is limited to people without restrictions in their diet. However, with today’s relatively unhealthy population, the chocolate industry may be missing out a lot if they do not make their products health-sensitive.
Apparently, the marketing and product development geniuses of these chocolate companies are aware of this and they are not about to give up their share of health-friendly chocolate products in the market. The recent years have witnessed the birth of many health-conscious chocolate products or chocolate recipes which are not just limited to the usual sugar-free and diabetic-friendly ones, but also those which address other health concerns as well.
Allergies to Milk or Chocolates
Those who have allergic reactions to milk can now enjoy fresh cup of Milk-Free Hot Chocolate. Just make sure to purchase a chocolate mix that is dairy-free such as Vance’s. This dairy-free mixture is a corn derivative. To add creaminess to your drink, you may add in vanilla extract or marshmallows.
If brownie bar is a dream which you can not reach because of its corn, dairy and wheat content or even gluten, then wake up from that dream now. You may now bake batch after batch of allergy-free brownies by substituting bananas, vegetable oil, potato and brown rice flour instead to the usual ingredients used in baking brownies.
Chocolates, A Natural Anti-Oxidant
Chocolate is naturally an anti-oxidant. However, if you combine it with green tea, then its anti-oxidant power has surely doubled up. This is especially helpful to fight today’s body intoxicating agents found in the various foods we eat.
Green Chocolates
There are also chocolates which claim to be “green”. They are not only health friendly but environment friendly as well. These are chocolates from organically grown cocoa beans. Synthetic fertilizers are not part of processing these types of chocolates. Preservatives are not added as well just so its shelf life can be extended.
Truly, chocolates have certain components which can lower blood pressure, cholesterol and can cause blood-thinning. It is so good that it gets even better with these healthy options which can be used in many other chocolate recipes. With the presence of these types of chocolates which are alternatives to the typical ones, chocolate is coming closer and closer to almost all people, even those who have special health conditions and dietary considerations. Now, why wouldn’t you try concocting some chocolate-related recipes at home, right?
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Planning a Vegetarian New Years Eve Party
If you are already in the process of planning a New Years Eve party you might want to consider making the event a vegetarian event.
A host might decide to host a vegetarian event is because she herself is a vegetarian and she wants to share some of her favorite recipes with her friends even if they are not all vegetarians. Although a vegetarian may also opt to serve both vegetarian and meat based items at the party and simply not consume any meat herself, when she opts to exclude meat from the party it is usually for the purpose of sharing something that is important to her with her guests.
Another reason a host might opt to throw a vegetarian New Years Eve party is to save money on the costs of food. Hosting a party, especially for a large number of people can be quite expensive especially if you plan to serve expensive dishes containing meat. One way to cut down on the cost of the party is to substitute hearty vegetarian dishes in place of the more expensive meat dishes. If well prepared, most guests will not even miss the presence of the meat.
Still another reason a host might decide to throw a vegetarian New Years Eve party is the exclusion of meat may fit in well with the theme of the party. With a number of diets currently popular, a host may opt to throw a party based on the principles of a particular diet such as the raw diet which focuses on consuming uncooked foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts.
Regardless of the reason for throwing a vegetarian New Years Eve party, the host does have to do a certain amount of planning and preparation to ensure the event is completely vegetarian. One way to do this is to consult vegetarian cookbooks to search for recipes which will make a good edition to the party menu. When selecting these recipes, it is important to follow each recipe carefully and not make any substitutions. This is important because items you may substitute into the recipes may contain animal products. Making these substitutions will result in your dishes not being completely vegetarian.
Alternately another way to provide a vegetarian menu is to make the event a potluck. This is especially a good idea if the majority of the guests are also vegetarians because they likely already have a number of vegetarian recipes to share. However, if most of the guests are not vegetarians, they may have difficulty deciding what to bring and may also inadvertently include ingredients with animal products in the food.
Another important thing to keep in mind when planning a vegetarian New Years Eve party is that it is important to make sure the guests are aware of your intentions. This is especially important if the event is going to be a potluck. However, it is also courtesy even if you will be preparing all of the food so the guests know what to expect when they attend the party.
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Variety Adds Vitality To Your Vegetarian Meals
Probably one of the most perplexing thoughts a person has when they transition to vegetarianism is keeping their diet filled with a variety of fun, diverse, and nutrient-dense foods.
It can sometimes feel like you’re cutting many options out since you’re no longer consuming meat, and it may seem you’re losing even more options if you’ve also decided to cut dairy and eggs from your diet as well. With a little creativity, planning, and forethought, you might be surprised how much variety you can achieve with your new vegetarian diet – perhaps even more than your meat-eating days!
There are some simple substitutions you can experiment with and use as substitutions in your favorite meat recipes. Tempeh, which is cultured soybeans with a chewy texture; tofu (freezing and then thawing gives tofu a meaty texture; the tofu will turn slightly off white in color); and wheat gluten or seitan (made from wheat and has the texture of meat; available in health food or Oriental stores) are all great items to start with.
Milk and other dairy products can also be easily replaced with vegetarian-friendly items. Try soy milk, soy margarine, and soy yogurts, which can be found in health food or Oriental food stores. You can also make nut milks by blending nuts with water and straining, or rice milks by blending cooked rice with water.
A good way to introduce beans to the diet is to use them instead of meat in favorite dishes, like casseroles and chili. Because of their many health benefits, beans should be eaten often. Some great examples are chickpeas, split peas, haricot, lentils (red, green or brown), and kidney beans.
Many nuts and seeds are available both in and out of the shell, whole, halved, sliced, chopped, raw, or roasted. Cashews, peanuts, walnuts, almonds are some easy-to-find favorites. Sunflower and sesame seeds are excellent choices for spicing up salads and other vegetable dishes.
And don’t worry that you’ll have to give up your favorite Mexican, Italian, or other favorite dishes now that you’re vegetarian. Many of them can still be enjoyed and only require slight variations.
Some popular and easily convertible dishes include: pasta with tomato sauce, bean burritos, tacos, tostadas, pizza, baked potatoes, vegetable soups, whole grain bread and muffins, sandwiches, macaroni, stir-fry, all types of salad, veggie burgers with French fries, beans and rice, bagels, breakfast cereals, pancakes, and waffles just to name a few.
The freezer sections of most big grocery stores carry an assortment of vegetarian convenience foods such as veggie bacon, burgers, and breakfast sausages.
So get in the kitchen and let your creativity lead the way! You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised just how much more variety your diet will have as a result.
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Vegan And Raw Food Restaurants
One of life’s great pleasures is going out to eat and trying new restaurants and dishes. This holds true for raw food and vegan restaurants too! There are, believe it or not, more than 5000 natural foods restaurants in the U.S. alone. Predictably many of these restaurants are in major markets and in college towns.
You might not live in an area where you can visit a natural foods restaurant regularly, but if you’re traveling, do some research and see where there might be a natural foods place to visit. Here are a few notable restaurants around the country:
Delights of the Garden has gained amazing popularity in Washington, DC, considering that city is a haven of power lunches between lobbyists and the like. It features a cool-looking cafe with raw and cooked vegan favorites.
Arnold’s Way is located outside Philadelphia, PA in the Bucks County town of Lansdale. They have a raw café and also have classes in raw foods preparation.
Au Lac in Fountain Valley, California serves 7-course raw dinners, although you want to call in advance to give the chefs time to prepare.
Café Gratitude has two locations in San Francisco and one in Berkeley.
Quntessence in Manhattan features an all raw menu, all organic, salads, fresh juices, soup, guacamole, essene bread, almond shakes, and more.
Dining in the Raw in Key West, Florida features macrobiotic, vegan and raw foods.
The Organic Garden in Beverly, Massachusetts is a living and raw foods restaurant.
Suzanne’s Vegetarian Bistro in Miami, FL has a daily raw soup on its menu.
Enzyme Express in Anchorage, Alaska is a raw foods restaurant.
Golden Temple in Birmingham, Alabama is a vegetarian restaurant that features a juice bar.
These are just a few raw foods restaurants in some likely (and unlikely!) cities. Many cities have magazines with restaurants listed by categories.
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14 Different Types Of Vegetarians
Many people think of vegetarians as one homogeneous group that just doesn’t eat meat. But nothing could be further from the truth. There are different categories of vegetarians as diverse as the reasons for going vegetarian in the first place.
A vegetarian is generally defined as someone who doesn’t eat meat. But someone who is vegetarian could conceivably eat dairy products such as milk, eggs and cheese. A lacto ovo vegetarian doesn’t eat meat, fish or poultry, but does consume eggs, milk or cheese. A lacto vegetarian consumes milk and cheese products, but doesn’t consume eggs.
A vegan is someone who doesn’t consume any animal product or by-product, including dairy food. They eat only vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains and legumes. They also don’t use animal products, such as leather. Vegans also don’t use white sugar because it’s often processed with a substance derived from animal bones that whitens the sugar.
There are other categories within the vegetarian community. Fruitarians, for example, eat only fruit. Their rationale is that fruits, including fruits such as tomatoes, are self-perpetuating and don’t need to be planted to create the food source. They consider it a way of eating that’s most in balance and harmony with the earth, the most natural.
All of the above will eat cooked vegetables, fruits and legumes. There is also a growing movement towards eating only raw or living foods. This based on the assumption that cooking food processes most of the nutrients out of it, and to get all the nutritional value, vitamins and amino acids from food, it’s best consumed raw, or juiced. If cooked at all, it should only be cooked to slightly over 100 degrees, so the nutrients are still retained.
The more restrictive you become with your diet, however, the more educated you need to become to be sure you’re getting all the necessary proteins and vitamins that you need to maintain good health, especially muscle and heart health.
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Vegetarian Diets For Kids
If you are a vegetarian parent you have probably considered putting your child on a vegetarian diet. Not only would it save you time and make meal planning easier, but for dietary reasons or ethical reasons you may believe it is the best choice for your child.
Conversely, you may not be a vegetarian but you may have a child who is at a vegetarian phase where he or she is rejecting meat but doesn’t eat enough healthy foods to compensate for the nutritional gap.
Whatever the case may be, you may be wondering if a vegetarian diet is a sustainable, healthy choice for your child. Or, perhaps you have heard that a vegetarian diet could potentially stunt the growth of your child.
These concerns probably prevented you from putting your child on a vegetarian diet up to this point.
You should be aware that these concerns are in-fact legitimate issues and that if a vegetarian diet is poorly planned, it can cause serious long term and short term deficiencies especially in children who do not have sufficient stores of vitamins and minerals in their bodies as yet.
If you have not done sufficient research and are not well-prepared for the task of putting your child on a vegetarian diet, then you probably should not. However, if you’ve done your research and are aware of the kind of nutrients that vegetarian diets lack, then you know that these problems can easily be over-come with some meal planning.
You will probably be aware that putting your child on a vegetarian diet can greatly improve his or her health and limit
the exposure to animal products that are often linked to hormones and preservatives.
To begin your child on a vegetarian diet you should make sure that you your meal-planning ensures enough of the following elements that vegetarian diets lack:
1) Protein – make sure that your child is getting enough protein from additional sources such as nuts and soybeans.
2) Calcium – ensure that your child is getting enough calcium in his diet by including lots of green leafy vegetables to his diet.
3) Iron – add more iron to your child’s diet by increasing beans, soybeans, tofu and cereals.
4) Zinc – enhance your child’s Zinc intake by increasing, nuts, peanut butter, and mushrooms.
If you concentrate on compensating for all of these common deficiencies that vegetarian diets lack, then, you can
absolutely put your child on a vegetarian diet without any negative consequences.
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Hot and Spicy Chick Peas
Makes 2 servings in 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
* 1 can of chick peas (15 1/2 Oz; 439 gr)
* 1 medium onion, finely chopped
* 1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
* 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
* 1 green chilly, finely chopped
* 2 medium well ripened tomatoes, seeded and chopped
* 1 tablespoon fresh coriander chopped
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 10 g vegetable oil
* Spices:
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tea spoon “garam masala”
- salt to taste
PREPARATION
1. Drain chick peas, reserving the liquid.
2. Cook the onions, ginger garlic, chilies and turmeric in the vegetable oil until golden and softened.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook to soften, then add the ground coriander and chick peas.
4. Cook for 10 minutes, add the reserved liquid and cook a further 10 minutes.
5. Add “garam masala”, lemon juice and stir in the fresh coriander. Cook gently for 2-3 minutes, adding more liquid, if needed, to make a sauce.
Serve with “naan bread”, “chapati” or as a side dish.
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Vegetarian Spinach Casserole
Preparation – 20 minutes
Cooking – 50 minutes
Ingredients:
* 1 3/4 cups water
* 3/4 cup white rice
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 2 cups milk
* 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
* 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic
* 1 red bell pepper, chopped
* 1 (15 ounce) can white corn, drained
* 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs, seasoned
* 2 tablespoons butter, diced
Method:
1. Combine water and rice in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Mix flour into the butter slowly, stirring constantly. Whisk in milk a small amount at time until smooth. Cook over a medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese, salt, pepper, and hot sauce; stir until the cheese melts. Stir in spinach.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic, bell pepper, and corn in oil until tender, stirring frequently.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large casserole dish, combine rice, spinach-cheese mixture, and onion mixture. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top of the casserole, dot with 2 tablespoons butter, and top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.
5. Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until cheese topping melts.
Serves eight people
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Vegetable Pizza
Preparation: 30 minutes
Cooking: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
* 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls
* 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 1 (1 ounce) package dry Ranch-style dressing mix
* 1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped
* 1 cup chopped tomatoes
* 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
* 1 cup chopped cauliflower
* 1 cup shredded carrots
* 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Roll out the crescent roll dough onto a 9×13 inch baking sheet, and pinch together edges to form the pizza crust.
3. Bake crust for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Once finished cooking, remove crust from oven and let cool 15 minutes without removing it from the baking sheet.
4. In a small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, and dry Ranch dressing. Spread the mixture over the cooled crust. Arrange broccoli, tomato, green bell pepper, cauliflower, shredded carrots, and Cheddar cheese over the cream cheese layer. Chill for one hour, slice and serve.
Serves twelve
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