Tag Archives: vegetarian diet

Vegetarian Diet Reduces Risk of Fatal Heart Disease by One-Third

healthinsA new study reported in Medical News Today, and  published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concludes that a Vegetarian Diet reduces the risk of dying of heart disease by one-third!

Starting in the early 1990s the study followed 45,000 Europeans who volunteered for the study.  34 percent of volunteers did not eat meat or fish. Hospital admissions and deaths were tracked and during the study. The final tally showed a total of 1,235 identified cases of cardiovascular disease: 1,066 by hospital admission and 169 by death.

by Genene Cote Posted on February 7, 2013
Posted in Caldwell Esselstyn, Dean Ornish, diabetes, heart disease, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Eating Out–Subway Offering Vegan Sandwiches

Plant based eating is becoming almost mainstream! Subway is offering vegan sandwiches in the South (Virginia and Maryland).

The news made me remember a trip to the Southern US thirty years ago.  My most vivid memory of the trip is that I almost starved to death!

We were traveling and eating in restaurants. Every day, feeding myself was a challenge! The first hurdle was finding anything vaguely vegetarian on the menu.  If I found something besides salad I still had to be very careful.  Lots of added bacon (salad dressing, baked potatoes, even mac and cheese) and foods cooked in lard. Asking the server about the ingredients was a whole other problem. Mostly the people who served me and the people I ate with couldn’t get over the fact that I didn’t eat any meat. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 22, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, excitotoxins, Food Additives, Resturants, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Beans, Beans the Musical Fruit. . .

beansCute poem. Uncomfortable reality.

Here is a fun factoid:  the average person passes gas from 14-23 times per day. But seriously, it doesn’t matter if you call it flatulence, farts or gas – it is embarrassing and uncomfortable.

New vegetarians and vegans complain about inordinate amounts of gas.  Which, makes sense when you think about it.  All of a sudden the body is flooded with large amounts of fiber; particularly things like beans, cabbage, kale and asparagus. Nailing down the exact cause gets a little tricky because what causes gas in one person may not cause it in someone else.

No matter what specifically causes it, the mechanism is the same. The intestinal tract is inundated with foods that do not digest easily and the result is gas.  The enzymes and bacteria needed to digest and absorb certain carbohydrates are either in short supply, out of balance or entirely absent. The result is gas: belching, farting, bloating, abdominal discomfort and sometimes real pain.

The good news is that the body will adapt as you continue to eat the vegetables that cause the gas.  Beans, however, may remain problematic.  So what can you do? (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 17, 2012
Posted in Beans, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Red Beans and Rice

red beans and riceA big favorite in our household is Cajun Red Beans and Rice.  Traditionally cooked on Monday which was laundry day because cooking beans the traditional way is an all day (and sometimes close to two) process.  Taking the time is almost worth it since the pot of beans is to die for!

Any red bean will work – small, large, kidney.  The dish tastes  almost as good if you use pressure cooked red beans.  And you can always use canned kidney beans.  Whatever beans you decide to use the basic recipe methodology is the same. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 12, 2012
Posted in Beans, Mirepoix, plant based diet, rice, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Do You Know about Excitotoxins?

Four years ago David developed a gluten allergy. That began a series of radical changes in our diet. But there were more to come!

Two years ago he started having a series of “weird” problems.  He was not diabetic or even pre-diabetic but he clearly had a blood sugar problem!  On any given day his blood sugar spiked and dropped for no apparent reason.  He was alternatively shaky and moody. And eating seemed to make the problem worse.

We were at our wits end!  So in an effort to figure out what was going on we started tracking the symptoms and what he ate. The place to start was in the grocery store; reading labels. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 8, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, excitotoxins, Food Additives, gluten-free food, weigh loss | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Summertime and the Livin’ is Easy

My favorite part of gardening is watching the seeds sprout and poke up through the ground.  My second favorite part is harvesting the food. Third, is eating it.

It is immensely gratifying to actually see the results of all your hard work. Watering, weeding, keeping after pests and fungi is hard work. Never mind the transplanting and soil prep.  It’s definitely work!  But there are so few things in life where you can actually see, taste and experience such tangible and direct results.

Harvesting means menu planning.  Now, in the winter menus are usually about the finished product – casseroles, soups, stews and meatless meatloaves.  In the summer it is about making sure I have cooked rice and beans in the fridge, nuts in the pantry and a few things in the freezer.

by Genene Cote Posted on June 7, 2012
Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, entrée, fresh veggies, garden, Italian, menu, Pasta, salad, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blueberry Pancakes (no gluten, sugar or eggs involved)

David is the breakfastmeister in our house.  For years he was the eggs and potato king.  Or pancakes and eggs emperor. The rice and eggs sultan. You get the idea.

As we started to eliminate eggs from our diet we (obviously) had to rethink breakfast.  Consequently, we have been eating hot grain cereals, granola and occasion gluten-free pancakes or waffles topped with nut butter and fresh fruit.  The problem with gluten-free pancakes/waffles is that they require an egg, use processed flour and are expensive.

buckwheat groatsThen one day David had an idea: he know how to create a decent pancake with no gluten no eggs and no processed sugar.  Long story, short, we invested in a big bag of buckwheat groats. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 6, 2012
Posted in Breakfast, diary-free food, gluten-free food, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What’s in a Name”?

Vegetarian Diet?  Vegan Diet?  Plant-Based Diet?

Over the last year as we changed how we ate, my dilemma has been what to call the “diet” we eat.
z-test background - topshelf
Being a vegetarian (as in eating a vegetarian diet) is fine with me.  It is, in fact, an accurate description of my life-long dietary habits. Mostly I have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian which means I ate eggs and dairy as part of my regular diet. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 5, 2012
Posted in diary-free food, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Pills or Veggies?

diabetes drugsDid you know that almost 105 million people in the United States are either diabetic or prediabetic?

That is a staggering number.  If you figure the US population is roughly 335 million that means that roughly 1/3 of the total population is at risk!  Here is the breakdown as provided by the American Diabetes Associationregarding type 2 diabetics in the US in 2010:

  • Diagnosed: 18.8 million people
  • Undiagnosed: 7.0 million people

Prediabetes: 79 million people (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 1, 2012
Posted in diabetes, plant based diet, sugar-free food, weigh loss | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Reading This Week: The Starch Solution by John McDougall

starchDavid ordered this book last week.  Very nice of him! I promptly stole it right out from under his nose and have been reading it all week!  All I can says is PLEASE read this book!

Finally a diet book based on good sense AND as an added bonus, the science is solid. Over the years I have had hundreds of arguments about the evils of carbs. I knew intuitively that carbs were not the enemy but couldn’t articulate what was wrong with the starch turns to sugar which turns to fat argument.  Thanks to this book, now I can. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on May 25, 2012
Posted in book review, diary-free food, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment