A Vegan Valentine For Him
So yesterday we looked at vegan demographics and learned that there are many more females who are vegan than males. We also learned that most people go vegan for ethical reasons. Jane likes to point out that this confirms that women tend to be more compassionate than men. Jane also points out that I was vegetarian in my twenties, because of a female... The woman I was dating at the time was vegetarian, and over the course of our relationship, I too became vegetarian. Now I'm vegan, because of my wife.
So if you're a single female looking for a vegan male, you might have to convert one... and here's some ammunition for you... A new study says that eating meat significantly increases the likelihood of developing prostate cancer. Yikes!
Dr. Andrew Roddam of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, and colleagues compiled the results of 12 studies linking prostate cancer to insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). These studies included a total of 3,700 men with prostate cancer and 5,200 without it. Roddam's findings were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Epidemiological studies have established a link between high circulating serum IGF-1 levels and the risk of later developing advanced prostate cancer. -- Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NIH)
Prior research has shown a strong relationship between meat and dairy consumption and levels of IGF-1, and strict vegetarians are known to have far lower levels of the hormone circulating in their blood.
Men in the group with the highest IGF-1 levels were 40 percent (emphasis mine) more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than men with the lowest levels. Among men who did develop cancer, higher IGF-1 levels were also associated with a significantly greater rate of tumor spread. -- Source: Natural News
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, accounting for a quarter of all new cases of cancer diagnosed in men. It is the second most common cause of cancer death in UK men after lung cancer. (Source: Science Daily) According to the National Cancer Institute, 15.78% of men born in the United States today will be diagnosed with cancer of the prostate at some time during their lifetime. In other words, 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with cancer of the prostate during their lifetime.
So ladies, get your guys to go vegan... and you might want to suggest they start taking lycopene which has been shown to help neutralize harmful free radicals that can damage cells. Lycopene may be valuable in slowing the growth of cancers in the prostate, lung, and stomach. - Source: American Cancer Society.
Since most of us males are lead around by that certain part of our anatomy, this information could mean that you're twice as likely to convince us!
Vegan Demographics
Jane and I were talking about the demographics of vegans the other day. When we go out to eat here in the Los Angeles area, we're always a bit surprized at the number of males in the restaurants we frequent. It's not that men can't be vegan, but we seem to know many more women who are veg*n. Poking around the internet I found the following facts on veganism and thought I'd share them with you all.
Vegan demographics
Most likely to be female and under 35.
| Gender: | Vegans | UK Vegans | USA Vegans |
| Male | 33% | 36% | 22% |
| Female | 67% | 64% | 78% |
| Age: | Vegans | UK Vegans | USA Vegans |
| 16-24 | 21% | 14% | 36% |
| 25-34 | 40% | 39% | 44% |
| 35-44 | 25% | 32% | 11% |
| 45-54 | 10% | 11% | 7% |
| 55+ | 4% | 4% | 2% |
Why vegan?
87% of people are vegan for ethical/moral reasons.
| Vegans | UK Vegans | USA Vegans | |
| Dietary/health | 11% | 9% | 19% |
| Ethical/moral | 87% | 90% | 77% |
| Spiritual/religious | 2% | 1% | 4% |
When did you become vegan?
78% of vegans went vegan between the ages of 16 and 34, with 52% between the ages of 16 and 24. The average (mean) age for turning vegan is 24.1, although the most frequent ages are 19, 20 and 21. US vegans generally turned vegan younger (mean age 22.4) than UK vegans (mean age 24.9).
| Vegans | UK Vegans | USA Vegans | |
| <15 | 10% | 7% | 17% |
| 16-24 | 52% | 51% | 52% |
| 25-34 | 26% | 29% | 21% |
| 35-44 | 8% | 9% | 6% |
| 45-54 | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| 55+ | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Source: The Vegan Profile
Vegan Easy Dinner
TJs Chickenless Strips Spinach Peppers and Quinoa
Here's a quick and delicious dish Jane made for dinner last night. She sauteed onions and red peppers and some portobello mushrooms strips. Then she added chopped spinach and Trader Joe's Chickenless Strips. We had that along with a side of fluffy quinoa and a great big green salad.
Now it's been a really long time since I've tasted chicken, so I don't know if this would fool a carnivore. But it looks like chicken, doesn't it? Jane likes to keep the Trader Joe's Chickenless or Beefless Strips on hand for just this type of quick meal. It looked so easy, I could probably do this too!
Blueberries Minus The Milk
One of the Eight Foods To Eat Every Day is blueberries. Blueberries also happen to be one of my favorite foods. I will often add them to whatever smoothie I am having for breakfast. Or I'll drop a handful into my cereal or oatmeal. I love blueberry muffins. And, in the summer, when they're in season and plentiful, Jane makes a killer blueberry pie!
The reason blueberries are so good for you is that they are packed with polyphenols which provide blueberries with antioxidants. However, according to a new study reported in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine, the antioxidant power of blueberries is significantly reduced by consuming blueberries with milk. This has to do with the protein in milk. The study was conducted using people who consumed their blueberries with milk or water.
The blood work of people who consumed the blueberries with milk did not show an increase in levels of plasma antioxidant capacity. The conclusion the authors of the study draw is that the best way to gain maximum benefits from blueberries (and other fruits eaten for their polyphenol content) is to consume them either one hour before protein is consumed, or two hours after.
So while we're not consuming dairy, we usually eat our blueberries with almond milk, also a source of protein.... We'll have to stop doing that if we want to get the full antioxidant benefits of our blueberries.
Source: Natural News
Vegan Protein
So after writing about the born-again carnivore yesterday, I wanted to write a post that promotes a vegan diet tonight. This is a vegan blog after all!
So what's the first thing people ask you when you say you've gone vegan? Where do you get your protein? Jack Norris, co-founder and current president of Vegan Outreach, and Registered Dietician, is authoring a blog of his own... JackNorris.com. Fittingly, his first (real) post talks about protein.
According to Norris, if you eat 3 servings of proteins per day, your protein needs should be taken care of. He suggests not eating more than 2-3 servings per day of soy or wheat gluten products.
So, where do you get your protein? We get ours from a wide variety of foods.... Beans and legumes mostly (lots of chickpeas), followed by soy and nuts, and seitan. And almond milk, and quinoa... I also start my morning with a smoothie made of almond milk, almond butter, a banana, and rice protein powder.
And a special thanks to Joe H. of Temecula, CA who's email alerted us to Norris's new blog.
Born Again Carnivore
If you've been reading this blog for any period of time, you know that Jane and I are advocates of a vegan diet for a whole bunch of different reasons.We've been eating this way for almost two years, and at this point, we don't expect we'd ever go back to eating meat or dairy.
Having said that, I also believe vegan-eating may not be right for everyone. Just as there are people who cannot digest gluten, or those who cannot digest lactose, there may be people who don't thrive on a vegan diet. I'm not a nutritionist, dietitian, physician...
Yesterday, I stumbled across an article in the Times Online in which the author, Tessa Williams, a strict-vegetarian of 25 years, outs herself as a new-found carnivore.
I am not the only staunch veggie to give up a lifetime devotion to pulses and tofu in the past year. The Food Standards Agency in Britain states that the number of people eating a partly or completely veggie diet fell from 9 per cent in 2007 to 7 per cent in 2008. However, we are, on average, eating less meat per head, as Su Taylor from the Vegetarian Society points out. “In 2006 the average person consumed 74.3kg. In 2007 that figure was 74kg - only a slight reduction, but a downward trend. People are realising that plant-based diets are better for the environment.”
Remember Proposition 2, The Farm Animal Treatment proposition which passed here in California this past November? (The proposition deals with three types of confinement: veal crates, battery cages, and sow gestation crates.) One of the biggest concerns I heard people voice about Prop 2 was that it would appease people's guilt over eating meat. Ms. Williams comments seem to bear that thinking out... "Healthy and natural" gives an implicit stamp of approval too.
I see my decision to return to meat as part of a bigger change in Britain's food culture. We've shifted away from the old-school “meat is murder” approach, and now well-sourced meat is seen as healthy and natural.
Anyway, if you'd like to read about Ms. Williams conversion, here's a link to her story.
