Interview With My Friend Mike on Living a Vegan Lifestyle. Collection of Data

In this blog post, I want to share an interview with my friend Mike regarding living a vegan lifestyle. 

Here is Mike's response on his opinions, beliefs, and behaviors on living a vegan lifestyle:

If you have trouble reading Mike's response from the image above, I will retype his answers for better clarity.

Mike: I don't mind answering the questions here. I've been a vegan for the last 4 years. But I haven't eaten meat except for chicken or fish for many many many years before going totally without meat or meat byproducts. I don't miss meat at all. I became vegan for many reasons and one being that it was healthy. I have good cholesterol now. Also grocery shopping is a lot cheaper. And I prefer not to eat other living creatures. Going out in public to eat is a challenge because you have to plan where you're going to eat. But Charlotte is getting much better with more options. I was impressed that my family of Fourth of July purchased vegetarian hamburgers (veggie burgers) for Fran and myself. Also my aunt made a very nice healthy vegetable salad. But the majority of my family are all old-fashioned meat eating people. I still believe we living in a society that is dominated by meat lovers. But also I think we have more vegetarians and vegans than we did say 10 years ago.

Also I would like to add that I know many people who are major big-time animal lovers but they eat meat!! It seems hypocritical but as long as they don't see the meat like a cat or dog they can block that out of their head.

Also I'd like to add that I like more stores are offering vegan and vegetarian products. Not just your typical health food stores but the bigger namebrand stores. However to be vegan vegetarian all you need basically is fresh vegetables. It's best to stay away from processed foods but vegan and vegetarian processes food is much healthier than the typical stuff we see on the shelf.

As we can see, Mike became a vegan to become healthy and lower his bad cholesterol. He also prefers to not eat other living creatures. Meat can definitely be more expensive than plants while grocery shopping. However, when you go to eat & dine, it is a challenge because of the menu choices. You need to plan ahead of time to make sure the dining place has vegan or vegetarian choices. Eating a vegan or vegetarian meal is a growing trend, as you can see in his family BBQ of eating veggie burgers. I believe the Internet, fast download speed, YouTube, World Wide Web help spread the awareness of animal suffering & alternatives to meat eating. Also, businesses understand the growing trend of vegetarianism and offer vegan and vegetarian products. Businesses care about profit and they can do that by offering something of value by marketing to vegan/vegetarians. In the United States, generally speaking, most people love their cats and dogs, but still eat meat. I think dogs are domesticated animals, while pigs and cows are animals for consumption. Vegans and vegetarians need to be careful and not make dog and cat owners to feel bad for eating pork & beef. I agree that it seems hypocritical, but there are a lot of grey areas. We should respect an individual choice to be a meat eater or plant eater, as well as being sensitive to the culture & beliefs of the individual. We all have differences in our diet, but we should all be open-minded and respect each other's beliefs.

How to Transition to a Vegan Diet

I know not everyone is a vegan. Most of us are meat-eaters and some of us are vegetarians. Transitioning from a meat-based diet to a vegan can be extreme. So this post will be educational and informative, if you decide to make a new diet change. It is your decision to apply what you'll learn from this post. However, if you don't want to change your diet, then feel free to read this post for educational purposes. The irony is that I am a semi-vegetarian, but writing a post on how to transition to a vegan diet. Obviously I am interested in the vegan lifestyle, but not ready to go all out into this lifestyle yet.

Being vegan is a lifestyle change, which means you probably would be eating lots of fruits, vegetables, beans, vegan-based snacks, etc for the remainder of your life. In addition to what you will eat, you might be conscious of what products you buy, use, or even wear.

The tough part of being a vegan is the detoxification process. You will probably develop withdrawal symptoms for your favorite food. Sometimes the detoxification process might not be as bad you might expect it to be. Another tough part of living a vegan lifestyle is the social pressure from friends and family. What if you want to spend time with your family on July 4th, but it's a barbecue event? What if your family serves you yogurt? Well you should stand up for your beliefs, but also compromise and collaborate with each other. There are vegan patties made from beans or even mushrooms, and use vegan whole wheat buns. You can also eat yogurt that is composed of coconut milk, in which you can purchase from the store! It is going to be tough, but I hope you can find common ground with your family and friends.



Keep in mind, you should be gentle on yourself as well. Being mean to yourself for cheating a meal is negative energy. What's the point of feeling stress out over food. There is always next time.

You should also know why you're becoming vegan. Is it because you want to be healthier? Are you against animal cruelty? Do you want to support the environment? You need to know your purpose and that can help motivate you to continue living a vegan lifestyle.

Also be sure to consume enough calories. It would defeat the purpose if you consume too little calories because that is unhealthy for your body. Consuming too much of a vegan diet is bad as well. Too much of a good thing is bad because you might gain weight. So balance is the key. It helps to measure your calories consumed to make sure you're getting enough calories.

Next, make sure to get all your essential nutrients. Eat a variety of food and research vegan recipes from high authority vegans. It is important to learn and acquire wisdom for vegans who have been through the ups and downs. So you can join a support group or even a forum regarding living a vegan lifestyle.

Lastly, talk with a doctor if you are concern with your health. You might get a lab test to make sure you have enough nutrients(Iron, Vitamin B-12) or not. Exercising is also a great activity.

So in a nutshell, know your purpose to become a Vegan. Find common ground in social activities regarding food. Maintain your stress level, exercise, consume enough calories, join support group, and talk with a doctor if you have any concerns with your health. Good luck.

Vegan Athletes - Frank Medrano & Nathane Jackson

Is it possible to look good and be strong on a vegan diet? Of course. Frank Medrano and Nathane Jackson are respected vegan athletes. However eating a vegan diet won't make you strong automatically, you still need to put in the work to get the body that you want. These athletes claim that eating a vegan diet make recover faster and feel better and more energetic.



Here is a sample of Nathane Jackson's typical Vegan meal (source)

How would you describe your nutrition program?
I would say that I am roughly 90% Raw Vegan with the remaining 10% vegan. My plant based nutrient rich nutrition plan consists of leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, soaked nuts & seeds and I include superfoods such as spirulina, chlorella, goji berries etc.. I truly believe in “Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” – Hippocrates

As a professional fitness model I have to be ready to shoot on a moments notice. I have listed what I consume to maintain my current condition of 6-7% body fat year round as

well as being able to perform at my best ability in what ever activity or sport I am playing
at the time.

A typical day for me looks like the following:

• 1L lemon & cayenne water
• Green Juice
• Large salad with soaked nuts & seeds and a homemade raw dressing
• A fruit smoothie such as banana/mango/date. This is also my pre workout meal.
• Post workout shake with Sunwarrior’s Sprouted Brown Rice protein and dates and goji berries.
• Dinner is where I have more time so I like to change it up daily. Meals such as nut or mushroom burgers, zucchini hummus on flax crackers, walnut taco’s, seed pates.
• If I am hungry between meals I always have lower glycemic fruits near by such as cherries, berries, apples and grapefruit.

Frank Medrano is an inspirational athletes and a lot of people respect his gymnastic tricks and moves. I was very surprised at first when I found out Frank is a vegan. Frank looks great and is very strong without consuming meat or animal products. So what we have learned today is that you can be fit and healthy even on a vegan diet. You have to do your own research and learn more about transitioning to a vegan diet. We keep hearing stories on the detoxification process and it can be either good or bad.

Here is an advice from Nathane Jackson on transitioning to a vegan diet:

What advice do you have for people who are thinking of becoming vegan?
Same as above….athlete or not, seek out help from someone. Do your research as there are many great leaders in the vegan and raw food community. There are different philosophies so make sure you compare and contrast especially if you yourself suffer from any condition, illness or disease.

Reference:
http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=bio_jackson

Lab Grown Meat - Meat Without Murder

I like the idea of lab grown meat because no harm is being done at all and I can enjoy the meat guilt-free.

How does lab grown meat works? Well a needle is used to painlessly remove muscle tissue from an animal. The muscle tissue is then dissected into a muscle cell. The muscle cell is then cultured and replicates to create more muscle cells. The only problem is that lab grown meat is only at its early stage, since it was first consume in 2013 at a price of $300,000. The benefits of lab grown meat are no animals are killed, and greener for the environment. There are concerns about lab grown meat because it is bioengineered. Jason Matheny said "We've alreaded accepted plenty of bioengineered foods, such as wine, cheese, tofu, and tempeh. None of them are found in nature."

I look forward to artificial meat becoming mainstream in the future. Veggie patties, created from vegetable protein(soy & beans) are nice, but an artificial meat patty is revolutionizing. I hope there aren't any serious health consequences for consuming artificial meat, and I'm optimistic with the research and development of "meat without murder."

Even PETA supports the research and development of lab grown meat.

 “This is one of the most exciting developments ever,” says Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the world’s largest animal rights organization. “It removes the suffering of billions of animals and still gives people the opportunity to eat what they want, minus the cruelty.”

References:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/article/meat-without-murder/

An Organization that Encourage/Support Vegetarianism

In this blog post, we will be discussing an organization that encourage or support vegetarianism. That organization is called PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). PETA is founded in March 1980, and its motto is "Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any way."

PETA encourages people to be vegetarians or vegan through 3 specific ways: 1) Discussing the benefits of a vegetarian/vegan diet. 2) Celebrity involvement. 3) Undercover investigation of animal live transport and traditional religious slaughter.

Here is a picture of Maggie Q promoting a vegan diet change, an example of celebrity involvement with PETA:






PETA has faced criticism for various things. Generally speaking, PETA are aggressive with their media campaigns. Specifically speaking, PETA has been criticized by feminists for its Anti-Fur campaign, where supermodels and celebrities go nude for the "I'd rather be naked than wear fur" campaign. This action is very attention capturing. PETA even has its own comic and video games for the younger generations. PETA's video games has been criticized for copyright issues from the original game publishers. Another criticism for PETA is for the killings of sheltered animals. People who are against PETA think the euthanization of the sheltered animals is hypocritical animal cruelty. While in PETA's defense, they euthanized animals to put their animals out their misery in a humane fashion. So in other words, PETA isn't killing for business profit or entertainment, they are killing to end the suffering of the animals.

So in my opinion, I would say PETA is an organization that engages in positive peer pressuring. The pictures and videos that PETA use to get their message across are very graphic and shocking. PETA wants the audience to feel sympathy for the suffering of animals. An organization that encourages not smoking, protecting environment, providing education are examples of inducing positive behaviors. PETA wants people to become vegetarians or vegans, but the organization has faced various criticisms as well. However at the end of the day, it is all about what you believe in. Abortion, same-sex marriage, environmental issues, being a meat-eater or plant-eater; it's really all your own personal decisions that you should make.

References:
http://peta.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_for_the_Ethical_Treatment_of_Animals
http://www.peta.org/blog/euthanize/

Theories on Human Brain Evolution via Diet Types.

Now this blog post is not a true and definite account on why the human brain evolved through diet. This blog post will be discussing the theories or opinions on human brain evolution.

According to evolution, human are related to chimpanzees, gorilla, and orangutans via the Hominidae toxonomic family. (Wikipedia)

Suzana Herculano-Houzel said that adding neurons to a primate brain comes with a cost of 6 calories per billion neurons. (NBC News)

The analogy is, if you want more, you gotta pay more. So in the case of humanlike brain, an additional 733 calories a day is required. Therefore a raw, vegan diet would have been time consuming and perhaps dangerous to get that additional 744 calories per day.

"For gorillas to evolve a humanlike brain, they would need an additional 733 calories a day, which would require another two hours of feeding, the authors wrote. A gorilla already spends as much as 80 percent of the tropic's 12 hours of daylight eating.

Similarly, early humans eating only raw vegetation would have needed to munch for more than nine hours a day to consume enough calories, the researchers calculated. Thus, a raw, vegan diet would have been unlikely given the danger and other difficulties of gathering so much food." (NBC News)

So the theory from the NBC News article is that meat provides more calories, and cooking helps release more nutrient and mineral. Obviously, the human discovery of utilizing fire is how cooking can be done.

Another theory of human brain evolution is glucose, but not meat. The author claims neurons run on glucose, not meat. (Despain)

"Although meat does provide some valuable micronutrients and essential fats, there may not be anything incredibly special about meat nutritionally except that it freed up carbohydrate calories for feeding brains that were roughly three times larger than chimps without the use of gluconeogenesis (synthesis of glucose)." (Ungar)

Once again, everything that I've discussed so far is based on theory. From my opinion, if a pair of identical twins have two different diets, one is a meat-eater while the other is a vegan, then they will be able to digest the food. We humans are omnivores; we can digest cooked meat, raw sushi, and even plant-based food. As long as we get our daily recommended value of nutrients, we will survive regardless of our diet types.  

What are the advantages of dairy milk in a lacto-vegetarian diet? Is Soy Milk a good alternative to Dairy Milk? Peer-Reviewed Articles

Consuming milk can be a great source of calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Milk and other dairy products can help protect against bone disorders. The health concerns of not consuming dairy in some vegetarian diets is the lack of a strong and mechanistic bone support system. So vegans have reduced bone mineral density, increased chances of bone fractures, and other health risks compared with lactovegetarians and omnivores. (Weaver) Approximately 1300 mg of calcium is recommended daily for adults.

Where does soymilk come from? Soymilk is made by soaking whole soy beans into water and then squeezed to produce a milky liquid for consumption. Concerns of consuming soymilk are getting allergies, cancer, and the negative effects of higher estrogen levels. However, those concerns are debunked when you look for peer-reviewed sources and not speculations or assumptions. "We conclude that the phytoestrogen dose consumed had no effect on semen quality." (Mitchell)

Even soy infant formulas are  found to be harmless and safe.
"Soy infant formulas do not adversely affect human growth, development, or reproduction." (Merritt)

Safety of Soy-Based Infant Formulas Containing Isoflavones: The Clinical Evidence¹

1. Russell J. Merritt and 
2. Belinda H. Jenks²

Effect of a phytoestrogen food supplement on reproductive health in normal males

Julie H. MITCHELL*, Elizabeth CAWOOD†, David KINNIBURGH†, Anne PROVAN*, Andrew R. COLLINS* and D. Stewart IRVINE†

"We conclude that the phytoestrogen dose consumed had no effect on semen quality."

- - -

Should dairy be recommended as part of a healthy vegetarian diet?
By
Connie M Weaver

"A benefit-risk evaluation of the evidence for including dairy foods in the diet is presented. For many persons dairy products provide a substantial portion of essential nutrients, but especially calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Dietary supplements and fortified foods can be alternative sources of these nutrients, although other components of dairy foods such as amino acid composition and conjugated linoleic acid may be instrumental in the benefits associated with dairy product consumption for bone health and reduced risk of stroke, metabolic syndrome, and some cancers. Newer evidence shows that protein-induced calciuria does not have a detrimental effect on net calcium retention, and the concentrations of hormones in milk are not outside of the range of endogenous concentrations. Increased dietary protein, including from milk, can elevate serum concentrations of insulin-like growth factor I, which has an unknown relation to cancer. The concern over consumption of milk leading to increased risk of prostate cancer through reduction of serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, a potent anti-prostate cancer hormone, has been resolved with new evidence that local production of this hormone is independent of diet. Overall, evidence suggests that being a lactovegetarian has greater health benefits and reduced health risks than being a vegan."

Reference:
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/89/5/1634S.full.pdf+html
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/soy-milk-vs-regular-milk-which-is-healthier.html#b
http://www.clinsci.org/cs/100/0613/cs1000613.htm
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/134/5/1220S.long