Plant-Based Diets and Health

[Ahh The Simple Name]

I just finished a blog post titled "Live Longer and Better With a Simple Living Diet" .
URL: http://www.ahhthesimplelife.com/live...e-living-diet/

The point of the article is that plant-based diets are the best for health.
There is research to support this.

If interested, please read this post and leave a comment, either here or on the blog.

Many Thanks,
Carol from "Ahh The Simple Life" http://www.ahhthesimplelife.com

[catherine]

Hi, Carol!

I like your blog post because it's very informative--lots of resources to read and decide for yourself how to move ahead towards a more plant-based diet.

I was a regular Anglo-Saxon meat-and-potatoes type until about 15 years ago. I slowly modified my diet little by little (meat once a day to meatless when I had a meatless option to full commitment to no meat).

I am really more "flexitarian" now because I will eat meat that's pasture-raised and grass-fed humanely. Or if someone prepares a meal of meat for me as a gift, or if I would have to throw out meat rather than eat it (i.e., when I get sandwiches and I didn't know they were made with bacon I'd rather eat the bacon than let the pig's meat go in the garbage in vain.) But also, I do not want to be labeled as anything. Plus I think that we can do much better by asking people to "lean in" to eating less meat or more sustainable meat rather than expecting that people should just go vegetarian or vegan.

One of my very favorite simple living cookbooks is by Helen Nearing: Simple Food for the Good Life: Random Acts of Cooking and Pithy Quotations. I love this woman because she really is not that into cooking, but she says that people find her food delicious; probably because the food is so good--not necessarily the cook!

Thanks for sharing.

[Zoebird]

I was vegan for several years, then vegetarian for several more, and now paleo. It's definitely the right diet for us, and definitely plant based.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I'm not 100% vegetarian these days but am moving more towards it. My reasons are I don't care for how many animals are treated prior to being slaughtered in corporate agriculture, and also - meat is very expensive these days. It's more cost effective to make a meal with a grain such as rice and then veggies on the side. Also better for your health too, so it seems a no brainer to me. Mostly when I do eat meat, it's because I am eating on the run at some fast food place, yuck, but sometimes it ends out being the most time effective way to go. Rob

[Kestrel]

I don't know what I am, really.

I eat meat. But not a whole lot. Some fish, but mostly chicken. What a hypocrite I am! I LOVE CHICKENS! Not as food (well, yes I do), but as "people"! They're such fun to have around. And I'm also a hypocrite because I'd never kill one, unless, I suppose, I were absolutely starving, and then I'd cry. Sometimes I think eating chickens is/would be like eating my cats. Egad. I'm hopeless. Was raised with goats (and chickens), and we did eat them, and I recall the meat was very good, but don't have access to chevon that I know of, and haven't searched. I considered them pets. DH, however, eats all meat, with no apologies.

But we do eat a lot of veggies. We especially like broccoli and carrots and green beans and cauliflower, and GREENS! I chop up spinach and kale and chard and put them in everything. Mustard and collards, too. I eat very few grains, a bit of rice now and again, but use ground oats often. Not drawn to fruit. I do love pomegranates (had a tree as a child) but won't eat the supermarket kind -- too many fond memories of the home-grown ones. Some berries now and again.

Not fond of salad much, either. I like my veggies steamed or stir-fried, and like to finely chop them up and add them to various things as well, like the greens. Including breakfast.

I have sensitivities to gluten, eggs (whites), dairy, soy, and corn, so seldom eat any of them, which isn't a great loss, though I do LOVE real ice cream.

Yeah, I'm weird.

[Ahh The Simple Name]

Hello Catherine, Thanks for your reply. It's great to know that someone is reading my posts, and to get feedback such as yours. I am going to take a look at that cookbook that you recommend.

I'd be especially grateful if you would take a look at a series called "Easy as A-B-C Healthy Recipes" http://www.ahhthesimplelife.com/easy...althy-recipes/ Here’s the plan: I’m going to create a cookbook with 26 chapters - one for each letter of the alphabet, starting with “A” Is For Apple and going right through to “Z.” (Sue Grafton‘s excellent mystery series inspired me to take this approach.) I bet you have some great suggestions for some of the letters.

Take good care, and please visit my blog anytime!

[Ahh The Simple Name]

Hello Zoebird, Thanks so much for reading and commenting on my blog post. I welcome you to visit my blog often!
http://www.ahhthesimplelife.com

Kind Regards,
Carol

[Ahh The Simple Name]

Hello gimmethesimplelife, Thanks so much for reading and commenting on my blog post. Your reasons for moving towards a vegetarian diet are right on! Like you, I wish that more fast food places would offer more vegetarian choices. Might I suggest Chipotle if you have one available?

If you like to cook, please see some of the recipes on my blog. In particular, you might like to see:
http://www.ahhthesimplelife.com/5-si...inner-recipes/ "5 Simple Inexpensive Dinner Recipes"

and follow a series I just started:
http://www.ahhthesimplelife.com/easy...althy-recipes/ "Easy as A-B-C Healthy Recipes"

Thanks so much!

Kind Regards,
Carol

[Ahh The Simple Name]

Hello Kestrel,

Thanks so much for your interesting comments! I don't thinks that your food attitudes and preferences are weird at all! For one thing, I think many of us struggle with what's right and wrong with eating animals (after all many kinds of animals eat other animals). That said, as my post points out, farming animals is not the best use of our shrinking resources. And I do believe that if we are going to eat meat, we should at least take the humane route, and avoid the factory-farmed ones.

Please do visit my blog anytime! I'd be grateful for your comments on any of the recipes (and indeed on any of the posts!)!

You might like to help me with my series "Easy as A-B-C Healthy Recipes:
http://www.ahhthesimplelife.com/easy...althy-recipes/

Kind Regards,
Carol

[catherine]

Hi, Carol,

I think your idea for the A-Z cookbook is fun! But what I really like is that you are drawing from George Mateljan (World's Healthiest Foods) He is such an amazing resource, and I always find myself being drawn to his recipes, too. They are always healthy, but not, "OK, I guess I have to eat this" kind of healthy. They always sound good. I've tried several of his recipes and I'm on his email list.

Good luck with with finding X. The only thing I can think of is xanthan gum, and I KNOW you don't want to build a recipe around that!