THAT VEGAN SITE.

Too funny not too share! Let’s All Sing-a-long!

Happy Friday!

I’m contemplating buying a new, USED, car and am debating the issue of leather seats.

If I was buying a brand new car I would most certainly not be checking the box to order genuine leather seats. It’s not necessary and not something I want to support–simple as that. However, I don’t have the luxury of purchasing a new car right now so I’m left with used. One of the downfalls of purchasing a used car is that you aren’t ordering a car custom made to your liking. You’re buying what’s available on the market that meets your needs (hopefully) and that has been well taken care of… but what if that car just so happens to have leather seats? Is it an immediate “no” for you? Obviously a car is not 100% vegan anyways as there are probably glues, rubbers, etc and unfortunately all kinds of other things that I won’t get into right now. That aside, do the leather seats keep you, personally, from buying that seemingly perfect used car that has all the features you’re looking for, decent miles, has been well taken care of and has a price tag within your budget? You’re not directly supporting the company that purchased the leather. But then again, I personally wouldn’t buy a used leather belt or leather shoes from the local thrift store which isn’t directly supporting the leather industry either.

I’m curious what your thoughts are. What points am I overlooking? What would you or have you done in this situation? Let’s start a discussion.

When buying a used car… to leather or not to leather? That is the question!

It’s been all over the blogs the past 2 days–”OPRAH AND 378 STAFFERS GO VEGAN: THE ONE-WEEK CHALLENGE” and it’s pushed Kathy Freston’s latest book, Veganist, into the #1 selling book spot on Amazon for the last 2 days… and hopefully for much longer!

Oprah opened the show with investigative journalist, and frequent guest of the show, Lisa Ling taking a brief, but in depth, tour of the world’s largest meat processing facility–Cargill. Anyone mildly familiar with the meat industry and all of its secrecy will know this is a rare thing to be filmed so openly. Most footage of this nature is done by undercover journalists like in the film Earthlings [which can be viewed in full on their site--if you have the stomach. It's very difficult to watch, but very powerful and well portrayed]. Oprah even mentioned that they were first turned down by “20″ other facilities before someone agreed to allow the camera crew to enter. While difficult to watch, I’m glad this was exposed to the millions of viewers. People need to see the types of cruelty and death that they are supporting which each choice they make everyday.

The rest of the show focused on the 378 Harpo staffers who took a one week “challenge” to eat a animal-free, vegan (or… vegan-ish, as some admitted to) diet which amounted to mixed results–some people completely changed and committed to the new diet, others reverted to their old ways, but most seemed to at least be open to some change and chose to “lean into it”. At a minimum, the majority of people lost weight (collectively, 444 lbs lost and 84 lbs gained to be precise).

We can only hope that this show will open the eyes of Oprah’s followers viewers and that the message will perpetuate through their friends and families. To help Oprah’s minions viewers and guide them through their vegan-exploration she and Kathy Freston have put together a great Vegan Starter Kit full of grocery shoppings lists, recipes, a 3-week meal plan and lots more! Definitely a great resource few newbies and I hope the kit is maintained and updated on a regular basis!

Most of the show can be found on Oprah’s site split up into short segments, but you can also download and view the show in its entirety at one of the two links to the right (until they get taken down).: Here or Here.

Here is a preview of the show:

China’s recently issued circus act ban went into effect this week which not only bans their 300-something zoos from continuing the cruel use of animals in their acts but also forbids them from selling animal ‘parts’ in their shops and from serving rare species in the zoo restaurants. [I can't imagine the families that bring their children to ooh and awe over the cute little animals doing tricks, only to follow up the show by eating it's "cousin-species".]

It’s reported that zoos would “pull the teeth of baby tigers so that tourists can hold them”, hold live monkey-fighting shows as well as sell live chickens, goats, cows and even horses to visitors who can then put them in a cage with big cats to watch them be torn apart and eaten!

Unfortunately, as videos and blogs across the web show, abuse like this is not uncommon among circuses around the world.  Animals are often kept in unnatural and inadequate  spaces, are chained up, beaten and abused.

For more information on circus cruelty and to find out what you can do to help put an end to it, please visit PETA’s page on circuses and show your support!

Other great websites to check out:

• Say No To Animals In Circuses
• Animal Rights Collective Blog
• Stop Circus Suffering

Can eating a predominately plant-based diet lead you to feel more satisfied and less irritable while potentially aiding weight loss at the same time? Dr. Joel Fuhrman seems to think so!

In his recent study posted in Nutritional Journal, Fuhrman and his associates wanted to test the correlations between eating a low nutrient dense diet versus a higher nutrient dense diet and their effect on hunger pains. The higher calorie, low nutrient dense diet was full of processed foods, with added sugars, oils and animal foods while the higher nutrient dense, lower calorie diet was comprised mostly of unprocessed plant foods with minimal sugars, oils and little or no animal products (i.e. a mostly plant-based or vegan diet).

Of the 768 participants, most reported severe hunger pains and symptoms in-between meals while on the lower nutrient diet such as “fatigue, weakness, stomach cramps, tremors, irritability and headaches” which are not only unpleasant but they can lead to overeating and complicate any attempt at maintaining a healthy weight. It was also noted that the location of the hunger was felt mainly in the upper abdomen/mid stomach as well as in the head.

After switching to the higher nutrient, mostly plant-based diet almost 80% of the participants reported a change with 51% reporting a “dramatic or complete change in their experience of hunger”. They were less likely to experience irritability and mood swings and described the hunger to be much less unpleasant and felt mostly “as a throat sensation that was easily tolerated”.

With less of a negative effect in between meals and being able to fill up without overeating a high nutrient dense, plant-based diet is key to giving your body what it needs to feel nourished, maintain a healthy weight and improve your overall health.

Dr. Fuhrman, along with Whole Foods, use the ANDI (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) scoring system to rank foods on their ratio of nutrients to calories as a guide for consumers to select more nutritious foods.

Some delicious sounding nutrient dense recipes I will be trying very soon!

• Kale & Sweet Potatoes
• Brussel Sprouts Heaven! (easy on the oil)

If you have any nutrient dense recipes to share, please leave them in the comments below for everyone to try!

Bernando LaPallo, author of Age Less, Live More, recently turned 109 years old and has lived on a mostly raw, plant-based diet for 104 of those years! Amazing and inspiring!

I finally got a chance to read yesterday’s buzz article, “Steve Wynn: Viva Las Vegan”, in Las Vegas Weekly and was excited to learn that Steve’s reason for going vegan was from watching a film called Eating. Ironically, this Eating DVD just showed up in my mailbox yesterday because I ordered it earlier this week!

Wynn was presented this DVD by multimillionaire, cordless phone manufacturer, Gulu Lalvani after seeing the 70 year old appear 20 years younger and 30 pounds lighter and assuming he’d been to a doctor to have work done. “Promise me you’ll look at it,” he tells Wynn.

By the end of the film, Wynn and his girlfriend had both decided to take on the vegan ‘R.A.V.E. diet’ which is the meat tofu of the Eating DVD.  This diet is “an old-fashioned plant-based, whole foods diet based exclusively on whole fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds” while limiting fats and sugars and it’s endorsed by doctors such as Dr. Joseph Crowe and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn of the famous Cleveland Clinic—these guys know a thing or two about [reversing] heart disease.

After phoning up his personal chef and calling for an immediate change in the meals prepared for him and his girlfriend [Where’s my personal chef? Sheesh!], Wynn decided to take it a step further. He wanted to share the knowledge of his newfound lifestyle and gave a copy of Eating to every one of his employees. “I’ve had 10,000 [copies] made,” he says. But he didn’t stop there. Wynn has brought vegan options to every one of his 18+ restaurants in the meat-hungry city of Vegas—a trend that I hope continues exponentially.

Since purchasing the Eating DVD on a whim, having heard nothing of it before, I’m excited to see what was so compelling to make these high powered individuals turn their life around for the better. Check out the trailer for Eating below and stay tuned for an update in the next few days!

The World Preservation Foundation will be holding the Leaders Preserving Our Future conference tomorrow “to address the urgent need to find near term solutions to climate change.” Scientists, environmentalists and doctors from around the world will speak from their own perspective and field with regard to the global crises at hand with the majority calling for a major global diet change to further prevent and possibly reverse the negative impact we are having on our climate.

Personal highlights:

• DR. CALDWELL ESSELSTYN: Dr. Esselstyn will talk about his research findings and success on the reversal of heart disease, recognising the health benefits of a plant-based diet
• DR. ESTER VAN DER VOET: Why a substantial global diet change is the only way to reduce one of the most important drivers of environmental pressures
• MR. PAVAN SUKHDEV: The underlying causes of the global biodiversity crisis and how addressing one key cause – meat consumption – can reduce, prevent and even reverse biodiversity loss
• DR. PAT BROWN: A shift by the global food industry to promote plant based foods to ensure food and water security

This will be taking place in London, on November 3, 2010 and the entire event will be streamed live on their website.

For a full list of speakers, the schedule and a link to watch the presentation live please visit: http://www.worldpreservationfoundation.org/events.php and register for your invite!

Did anyone catch Janet Jackson on Leno last night? Apparently she and Jay pretty much hung out and talked vegan for about 10 minutes!

“When I was a kid I was a vegetarian. I’ve bounced back and forth and I was vegan at one point. My trainer was afraid that I wasn’t getting enough protein so I started eating fish… so pescetarian. I bounce back and forth.”

When Jay asks “Do you go to Chicago and get like big messy sausage sandwiches with extra grease and juice on it. That’s fantastic.” she replies “I don’t eat meat”.

She then goes on to talk about some of her favorite vegan meals and restaurants.

So… was Janet’s trainer right in suggesting she start adding some animal protein back in her diet? Most sources lead to the conclusion that you need to consume 10% of your calories from protein and a vegan diet is more than sufficient in meeting these requirements as long as you eat a variety of foods and meet your caloric needs.

The Vegetarian Resource Group has listed the protein content for many common vegan foods and you can see just how easy it is to meet your needs with a plant-based diet!

Before you start pouring drinks and celebrating World Vegan Day, you might want to research what exactly is in that cup. Not only do some drinks have animal-based ingredients such as honey in the final product, but often times the alcohol itself has been filtered with things like eggs, gelatin (made from animal bones & skin) and isinglass (made from the bladders of fish).

Luckily, these days more and more wine companies are labeling their bottles “vegan” to make things easier for their consumers. Here are just a few:

• Orleans Hill Winery Who also make Our Daily Red & Heartswork (Organic and sulfite free too!)
• Frey Vineyards
• Badger Mountain (Organic & vegan. If you can find the boxed version it’s a great deal for 4 bottles worth)
• Albero (Inexpensive, organic and vegan wine at Trader Joes)

If you want to check to see if your favorite wine, beer or spirit is vegan friendly the folks over at Barnivore have put together a great database of user-verified listings for which companies claim to be vegan-friendly. I always recommend checking the “last checked by” date on their posts and if it’s over a year ago you might want to check with the company direct and then report your findings back to Barnivore to keep them up to date. Barnivore also offers a mobile website and iPhone apps to be able to look up your purchases while at the store or bar!