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Veganism is not for me

I have decided that veganism is not for me.  I followed what should have been a good diet with lots of vegetables, legumes, and some sprouted grain bread.  I was eating whole, natural foods.  I was having problems with lethargy and generally low mood.  My primary medical issue is a mood disorder.  It is vitally important that I do what is necessary to protect a stable mood.  Apparently, that includes eating meat.  My total cholesterol was 147.  That is too low.  Low total cholesterol below 160 is linked to depression and other mental disorders; so I must keep my cholesterol levels up, and eating meat helps do that.

I’ve read posts from other failed vegans.  I did well to give it up after only three months.  The health problems could have gotten much worse.  They say the average vegan lasts about six months before they give it up due to health issues.  Given that the problems I was developing are hot-button issues for me that I consider to be potentially fatal, I did not delay my exit from veganism.

[Edit: This post was recovered from my old Exploring Veganism blog.]

Roxann Higuera
June 9, 2011
Veganism
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B-12 shortage?

I ran into some difficulties that I believe were related to veganism. As I told my doctor, I had problems with physical depression. My mood was fine, but I did not feel like doing much of anything. I was sleeping too much. Also, the corners of my mouth were cracking. I knew that B-12 deficiency could create such problems. The most common vitamin B-12 deficiency symptoms include tiredness, being irritable, finding it hard to concentrate, difficulty remembering things, and in extreme cases, psychosis or depression. The mouth corner cracks are apparently a more obscure symptom. This puzzled me because I was taking a multivitamin that included B-12.

Someone on the Vegan Fitness and Nutrition team on SparkPeople mentioned that there are different forms of B-12. Cyanocobalamin is an artificial form made with cyanide. It is commonly used in supplements. That was the form used in my multivitamin tablets. Another form, methylcobalamin, is natural. It is more readily absorbed. It is the specific form needed for nervous system health, according to an article by Dr. Peter D’Adamo.

Jarrow Formulas Methyl B-12
Jarrow Formulas Methyl B-12

I bought a bottle of Jarrow Formulas Methyl B-12 1000. I felt better very quickly. I also noticed that I was having fewer problems with my eyes. I had noticed over the past couple previous months that my eyes were not adjusting quickly after reading. The speed of accommodation was much improved after starting to take the Methyl B-12. Since I saw such good improvement, I decided that perhaps I should change my multivitamin as well. I discovered that multivitamins produced by NSI are formulated with methylcobalamin. When I run out of my current multivitamin, I will be switching to NSI Synergy Basic Multi-Vitamin Version 3.

[Edit: This post was recovered from my old Exploring Veganism blog.]

Roxann Higuera
March 23, 2011
Veganism
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Conflicting advice

I’m currently reading The Schwarzbein Principle: The Truth About Losing Weight, Being Healthy, and Feeling Younger by Diana Schwarzbein, M.D. It seems everybody has a different idea of what constitutes a good diet. In her book, she says that fats and cholesterol are important. She also likes to use hormone replacement therapy to keep estrogen levels up. She told stories about how clients on vegetarian diets had high blood cholesterol levels, and they were helped by adding eggs and meat to their diet. And yet, we’ve got The China Study, a massive epidemiological study, and other studies as well telling us that a plant based diet is superior for health. It’s difficult to know how to reconcile the information. To her credit, Dr. Schwarzbein does have a chapter on The Committed Vegetarian in her book in which she says the following:

Again, I never discourage anyone from eating a vegetarian diet. I discourage eating a bad vegetarian diet of cereals, pasta, breads, and sweets. A good vegetarian diet emphasizes tofu, seeds, legumes, nuts and whole grains, such as barley and quinoa, to get all the protein you need. A good vegetarian diet also provides essential fats from avocados, olives, and oils. You must mix and balance foods to get the needed nutritional balance at every meal. It is more work to eat a good vegetarian diet than it is to eat a meat-based diet, but it can be done.

My guess is that it’s only more work until one establishes the habits of a balanced diet. Then it becomes second nature. Right now, it’s still work for me to figure out how to do this right.

[Edit: This post was recovered from my old Exploring Veganism blog. Veganism ultimately proved to be an inappropriate approach for me.]

Roxann Higuera
August 16, 2010
Veganism
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Sugar is not always vegan

It has come to my attention that white sugar from cane is not always vegan. According to PETA, some manufacturers filter their sugar through charred cattle bones. For any Jews reading this, I would think this would render the sugar non-pareve as well. Bone-char is not used in the refining of beet sugar.

The following brands of cane sugar DO NOT use bone-char: Florida Crystals, Jack Frost, Country Cane, 4# Flow-Sweet, Pillsbury, Supreme, Southern Bell, and Rouse’s Markets.

The following brands of cane sugar DO use bone-char: Domino, Savannah Foods, and C&H.

[Edit: This post was recovered from my old Exploring Veganism blog. Veganism ultimately proved to be an inappropriate approach for me.]

Roxann Higuera
August 3, 2010
Veganism
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Still figuring this out

I’ve been reading Food for Life: How the New Four Food Groups Can Save Your Life by Neal Barnard, M.D. The four food groups are whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes. His book includes 21 days of menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus a menu for holidays and another for barbeques. There are also plans for seven convenience dinners that can be used when time is tight.

From reading Food for Life, I think I’ve at least figured out why I am gaining weight so far. I am probably using too much fat. Nuts are not recommended in Dr. Barnard’s plan, and he also recommends against added fat. Going forward, I want to try Dr. Barnard’s plans and see if that helps with the weight issue.

[Edit: This post was recovered from my old Exploring Veganism blog. Veganism ultimately proved to be an inappropriate approach for me.]

Roxann Higuera
August 2, 2010
Veganism
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Weight up, measurements same

I was a bit concerned the first few days of practicing vegetarianism when my weight was going up. My weight seems to have stabilized now and may even be starting to go down. Yesterday, I noticed as I was getting dressed that my pants seemed a bit looser. I took a set of measurements and found that overall they had remained the same in spite of the recent climb in weight. My abdomen measurement was down by 1″.

My portions were rather large the first few days. I have begun experimenting with smaller portions to see if I can be satisfied with less. So far, that is going well.

I have had some difficulty eating in a vegan way when going to restaurants. There really aren’t that many choices. Soups may have a meat broth or there may be egg and dairy in baked goods. Grains in restaurants tend not to be whole as well. Since I have taken up veganism for health more than philosophy, I have decided to choose my foods in restaurants according to what I perceive to be the most healthful with minimal animal products even if they may not be perfectly vegan. At home, though, I am choosing and preparing vegan foods for myself.

One thing I have discovered is that I do not have very many vegan options in my current recipe database. Since having a good cookbook was so instrumental when I did the HCG Diet, I decided to buy a couple of vegan cookbooks for myself. I ordered these: 500 Vegan Recipes: An Amazing Variety of Delicious Recipes, From Chilis and Casseroles to Crumbles, Crisps, and Cookies by Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman and 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson. I also ordered a book held at the library: Food for Life: How the New Four Food Groups Can Save Your Life by Neal Barnard, M.D. My local branch should receive it today.

One of the reasons I chose to try veganism was because I felt sluggish when I was eating a diet high in animal foods. Already, I have seen improvements. I am beginning to wake up earlier, and I feel better generally.

[Edit: This post was recovered from my old Exploring Veganism blog. Veganism ultimately proved to be an inappropriate approach for me.]

Roxann Higuera
July 28, 2010
Veganism
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Trying out veganism

I’ve been reading The China Study lately. Its main message is that we can control our health outcomes by adopting a mostly vegan diet. According to the authors, studies show that animal proteins cause the so-called Western diseases of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

During the animal studies, they noticed that rats fed a plant-based diet were more active than those on a diet including animal protein. They gave the rats metered exercise wheels and found out very quickly that the rats on the plant-based diet were twice as active!

During the last several days, I’ve felt very sluggish. During this time, I ate a lot of dairy and meat, since that sort of thing is encouraged when one follows a low carbohydrate diet. When I read about the vegan rats, it dawned on me that the low carbohydrate high animal protein diet could be the cause of that sluggishness. I decided to give veganism a try to see if I felt better.

Yesterday was my first day on a vegan diet. It’s probably too soon to tell if I’m feeling better. I’m not exactly sure what metric to use for that. Perhaps I could look at how many hours I sleep. Last week, I slept in a lot, often sleeping until 11:00 AM or noon. I used information from Low-cost vegan meal plans.: An article from: Vegetarian Journal as a model for how to plan the meals. I certainly did not lack for protein. According to Diet Pro, I got 82 g of protein, which is more than the 55 g or so that I need. I got 20.5 mg of iron, too, which is plenty, even for a woman. I was surprised that I got 75% of my B12 need as well. I might have gotten more, since I don’t have B12 amounts in my database for some of the foods I ate.

[Edit: This post was recovered from my old Exploring Veganism blog. Veganism ultimately proved to be an inappropriate approach for me.]

Roxann Higuera
July 27, 2010
Veganism
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Artificial sweeteners

I got an email from Dr. Al Sears about artificial sweeteners. Here’s part of it:

When your drink contains aspartame, sucralose, or any other artificial sweetener, you over-stimulate your sweetness receptors. It changes the way you think about the way things should taste.

You crave high-intensity sweetness. And naturally sweet foods like fruit don’t taste as good to you. Vegetables lose their appeal, because they’re not sweet.

Your gut has sweetness receptors, too. It’s all ready to absorb nutrients, so you get a surge in hormones, like insulin. But when the calories don’t arrive, your body tells your brain to go out and get them.

Your appetite increases, and you get cravings that cause you to overeat. What’s worse, you turn to high-carbohydrate foods and sweets to make up the calorie void.

But now, the insulin you’ve poured into your blood tells your body to turn whatever you do eat into fat.

I read one study of almost 2,600 people. Those who drank diet sodas had a 47 percent higher body mass index (BMI) than those who didn’t, and their risk of obesity was doubled.

He goes on to recommend fruity solutions as well as honey and raw, whole sugar.

All of that stuff about how the sweetness affects us has me wondering if maybe stevia isn’t such a good idea, either.

References:
Sansom, W. New analysis suggests ‘diet soda paradox’ – less sugar, more weight. Univ Tex SA Health Sci Ctr. June, 2005.

Roxann Higuera
June 30, 2010
Uncategorized
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More reasons not to eat whole grains

I’ve known for some time that grains don’t work well for me. I was reading a Paleo Diet newsletter today and discovered another reason not to eat them. Apparently, they are associated with deficiency diseases.

Whole Grain Cereals and Vitamin D Metabolism

Nutritional scientists have known forever and a day that excessive consumption of whole grain cereals severely impairs vitamin D metabolism and can lead to the bone disease, rickets[16]. In fact, as far back as 1918, before vitamin D was discovered, a scientist in England by the name of Mellanby routinely induced experimental rickets in puppies by feeding them an oat diet[17]. Epidemiological studies of human populations consuming high levels of unleavened whole grain breads show vitamin D deficiency and rickets to be widespread[18-20]. A study of radio-labeled vitamin D in humans consuming 60g of wheat bran daily for 30 days clearly demonstrated an enhanced elimination of vitamin D in the intestines[21].

16. Cordain L. Cereal grains: humanity’s double edged sword. World Rev Nutr Diet 1999; 84:19-73.
17. Mellanby E. The part played by an “accessory factor” in the production of experimental rickets. J Physiol (London) 1918;52:11-14.
18. Gibson RS, Bindra GS, Nizan P, Draper HH: The vitamin D status of east Indian Punjabi immigrants to Canada. Brit J Nutr 1987; 58:23-29.
19. Brooke OG, Brown IRF, Cleeve HJW: Observations of the vitamin D state of pregnant Asian women in London. Brit J Obstet Gynaecol 1981;88:18-26.
20. Hunt SP, O’Riordan JLH, Windo J, Truswell AS: Vitamin D status in different subgroups of British Asians. Br Med J 1976;2:1351-54.
21. Batchelor AJ, Compston JE: Reduced plasma half-life of radio-labeled 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in subjects receiving a high fiber diet. Brit J Nutr 1983;49:213-16.

Roxann Higuera
January 25, 2010
Paleo Diet, Research
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I know why we’re fat.

Q: What do you feed cattle when you want to fatten them?
A: Grains

Q: What is on the bottom of the USDA food pyramid, the stuff we’re supposed to eat the most of?
A: Grains

Q: What type of foods are often sold to us as low-fat?
A: Grain-based foods

Q: What do farmers feed to pigs when they want to fatten them up?
A: Vegetable oils such as corn and soybean

Q: What type of oils did they tell us to eat back in the 70s and 80s?
A: Vegetable oils such as corn and soybean

Q: What type of oils are food manufacturers using in their products?
A: Vegetable oils such as corn and soybean

Are you beginning to get the picture yet? Now try this one:

Q: What do farmers feed to pigs when they want them to be lean?
A: Coconut oil, a saturated fat

Q: What have we been told to avoid for our heart health?
A: Saturated fat

Q: What has been the result of the recommendations to lower our fat intake, particularly saturated fats, and eat a lot of grains?
A: Twice as many Americans are now overweight or obese.

Roxann Higuera
November 16, 2009
Uncategorized
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