Colin McEnroe Show: The Vegan Lifestyle

I'm a vegan and I am doing it

I'm a vegan and I am doing it for health reasons. Eating meat a lot jeopardizes your health and makes you prone to health risks. - Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

TWEET FROM GREG:

You must mention China Pan in Farmington for amazing vegan menu, incl vegan chicken, beef, lobster, and even MUTTON

Faith

Do you think you can have a long talk with Faith (oh, I just adore bacon) Middleton? :-D

EMAIL FROM MARINA:

Where do they draw the line? Do they drink beer? Use anything with yeast? After all yeast are animals, just small ones…

EMAIL FROM SARAH:

I tried to call into Thursday's show about Veganism but drove through a dead zone just as I got put into the queue!

I'm a vegetarian who tends to eat vegan because I was really lactose intolerant as a kid (I got called a vega-mostlian once and that seems to be a good fit) and I wanted to recommend an awesome vegan cookbook that I think is perfect for anybody toying with the idea of a vegan diet but sad they might have to give up some of their favorite foods. It's called The Veganomicon:The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. This book has every recipe you could possibly want from appetizers (try the acorn squash and black bean empanadas) and entrees (They have vegan macaroni and cheese!) to desserts (the double chocolate chip cookies are my standard potluck contribution). It also has handy guides on how to prepare and roast different vegetables, how to cook different grains and beans, their flavor profiles and what kinds of dishes they are best used for, for those of us who don't know what the heck a chia seed is or what's so darn amazing about millet anyway.

I think this cookbook is great not only for vegans, but for people looking for something more interesting to do with their serving of vegetables than steam them. I've noticed that so many cookbooks that feature meat entrees tend to forget about vegetables, simply using them as pretty foliage to display cheese or to dip in ranch dressing. This book really lets the vegetables take center stage (the cornmeal masala brussel sprouts are to die for!)

I cannot recommend this book enough and hope you guys give it a try! If you can't find somebody to make the double chocolate chip cookies for you, I'll try and bring some to you next time I make it up to Hartford.

Thanks for the great show!

E-mail from Maggie

Tried to call but couldn’t get through…This summer I went vegan for 30 days as an experiment. I had blood drawn before and after and my Bad Cholesterol dropped from 105 to 88. My boyfriend’s also dropped from 91 to 67. But unlike most of the callers, I actually felt awful the whole month. The first week I ate raw and the next three weeks just went vegan. I was bloated for the whole month. I expected that in the beginning, but not for the whole month. And while I didn’t crave meat and cheese even though I expected to, I couldn’t stop eating avocados and all I wanted was eggs. Once the experiment was over the foods I craved were fatty meats like hash and sausage—foods I don’t normally eat. I think that might be because my good cholesterol also dropped from 61-47.

Thank you,

Maggie

E-mail from Marc

Have any of your guests tried paleo or caveman diet or are familiar with it? How do they think the 2 compare?

E-mail from Wayne

Equal time for omnivores and raw milk drinkers.

E-mail from Ray

I can never get to you or your show by phone. The cost is much less than the "normal" American food; Cooking becomes quicker and much easier.

Most people who discuss vegan foods and (diet) lifestyle do not know about (or just does not mention) the scientific study explained in the book "China Study" which was conducted by a major university researcher. I do not remember his name. He showed that all animal tissue contains a the same chemical compound that is central to many health problems and shortened life. My wife read the book and she read major part to me and we decided from that to go directly to vegan. That was about two years ago. We have lost weight and are in great shape at 67 years old. I have an industrial degree in chemistry and have conducted research for years so reading the book made perfect sense to me. If you have the chance to share this information with your followers it would provide a strong background for why to change to vegan other than just not wanting to hurt animals or whatever.

I do listen to your show as often as possible,

Vegan show

Great show! Here is the link to Corrina Richards's Holistic Health Counseling/Detox website http://www.benourishedhhc.com/current-program

She is a great resource and local in West Hartford.

Thanks again for great public broadcasting & helping us all be smarter!
Amy Blumenreder

Vegan Diet/Lifestyle

It is important to remember that "vegan" does not necessarily mean "healthy." A person can be a vegan and eat chips, cookies, and tofu all day, the same as an omnivore. They will be sickly and pale. If you have stereotypes regarding vegans, remember that the unhealthy vegan you know is not unhealthy because he/she does not eat animal products, but because of an unhealthy diet regardless. Vegans can still eat processed food, chemical-laden food, and french fries. Technically speaking, a vegan only makes one change in their diet - no animal products. Some vegans make many more changes, such as refraining from processed foods, chemical additives, excess fat, starchy carbs, refined grains + sugars, and adopting frequent exercise! These people are healthy people, and it has very little to do with their veganism. I have been a vegan for only two years at age 22 but I have learned so much about the meaningless of labels when applied to diet and lifestyle, and the unfortunate prevalence of stereotypes resulting from a misunderstanding of these labels.