WHY VEGETARIANS AND VEGANS WEIGH LESS?

Here's a great way to lose the unwanted pounds, look good and stay healthy. At the same time, reduce your carbon footprint when you avoid the consumption and usage of all animal related products.

Posted by : SAMANTHA on Care2.com on 21st May,2011
(Selected from Planet Green and written originally by Sara Novak)

This is the first year ever that the USDA has embraced a vegetarian diet. In its 2010 dietary pyramid, the USDA gave vegetarianism an outright endorsement saying in addition to improved heart health, a vegetarian diet was associated with lower rates of obesity. Another study in 2009 by Oxford researcher Tim Key found that vegetarians and vegans had body weights 3 percent to 20 percent lower than meat eaters. So why are vegetarians and vegans thinner?


Comparing Numbers
First off, this isn’t true of all vegetarians and vegans. It’s usually those that eat a whole foods diet full of fruits, vegetables, soy, beans, nuts, seeds and free of processed foods, that enjoy the most weight loss. This results because the meat-free whole food choices tend to be less calorie dense. Animal proteins tend to be more calorie dense than plant-based proteins. For example, a 4 oz serving of garbanzo beans has 135 calories and 2 grams of fat while a 4 oz piece of filet has 232 calories and 10 grams of fat. A 4 oz serving of firm tofu has 88 calories and 5 grams of fat and a 4 oz serving of salmon has 237 calories and 29 grams of fat. While there are some less caloric choices like skinless chicken breast or a lean leg of lamb, when you break down the numbers, there tend to be more calories in meat than plant-based protein sources.

Healthy vegetarians and vegans also eat a lot more, you guess it, fruits and vegetables. Eating loads of fiber-filled fruits and veggies tend to fill you up faster with less calories.

Vegans Weigh Even Less
Vegans experience more dramatic weight loss when compared to vegetarians because they don’t eat any animal products like butter, cheese, and eggs. Not having cheese on that veggie sandwich or stinky bleu cheese atop your salad means less calories in the end. There are fewer calorie dense sources of food on a vegan diet and the foods that are fatty are loaded with healthful nutrients, specifically raw nuts, seeds, and avocado.


According to Glamour Magazine:
“I’m seeing more people going vegan because they’ve heard it can help them lose weight,” says Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., author of The Flexitarian Diet, who estimates that the average weight of a vegan is up to 15 percent less than that of someone who eats meat—which translates to 20 to 25 pounds for the average woman.

Cynthia Sass, R.D., agrees that a vegan diet can lead you to drop pounds. “If by going vegan, you end up eating more veggies, fruit, whole grains, beans and lentils than you were before, then it can be a way to reduce calories without feeling like you are,” says Sass, author of Cinch! Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds and Lose Inches.

Weight-conscience celebrities agree. Ellen DeGeneres, Alicia Silverstone, and Alanis Morissette have all slimmed down since starting a vegan diet.

While my reasons for enjoying a plant-based diet weren’t initially cosmetic, from my experience, it is easier to drop weight and keep it off. And in the end, you feel a whole lot better about where your foods are sourced.

Read more:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/why-do-vegetarians-and-vegans-weigh-less.html

WHAT IS 'VIRTUAL WATER" And WHY SHOULD I BE WORRIED?

A very interesting eye-opener on water usage and wastage that go pass us everyday...
Posted by : Eric Steinman on Care2.com on 23rd May, 2011.


How much water did you have with your lunch today? Most of you might say something like a glass, or bottle, which amounts to somewhere between 8 and 12 ounces on average. But that would hardly account for all the water you actually had for lunch. What about the soup or the espresso you had to jolt you through that post food coma that was sure to set in? Well that thimble full of espresso was made with approximately 37 gallons of water, and that bowl of soup, well who knows? The fact is there is “virtual water” hidden in that modest cup of espresso easily makes a 4-ounce cup into a 37-gallon cup. When you consider all the water used in growing, producing, packaging and shipping the beans that went into that espresso you come up with this number. In essence, virtual water is the embedded water that is utilized in the production of a good or service, like your beloved bit of espresso.

We have all been made aware of the environmental impact of our food supply, and have wrestled with concepts around “food miles” and such, but when it comes to water, most consumers just don’t think that much about it. Part of it, at least in the western world, is because water is so damn cheap that we just don’t have to think about it. But the story is much different in other nations struggling with water shortages, and is set to change for everyone, as water shortages become less of a regional occurrence and more of a global reality.

New research shows that we throw away, on average, twice as much water per year in the form of uneaten food as we use for washing and drinking, as reported in the Guardian UK. “What is worse, increasing amounts of our food comes from countries where water is scarce, meaning the food we discard has a huge hidden impact on the depletion of valuable water resources across the world.” John Anthony Allen, PHD, is a British geographer and is widely credited with creating and popularizing the idea of “virtual water” with his aptly titled book, Virtual Water: Tackling the Threat to Our Planet’s Most Precious Resource. “Our ignorance is immense,” says Allen, “Most of us don’t have the slightest idea about the sheer volumes of water involved in our daily lives.”

Now I would understand it if you are, at this moment, throwing up your hands and trying to drown yourself in your low flow toilet. Just as you feel you have done as much as you could possibly do to be a sustainable and conscientious person, stats like this come along and make you feel the problems are so entrenched and systemic that nothing you could do can make even the slightest bit of difference. But it might be as easy as just wasting less food. Food waste (which the numbers are staggering) accounts for somewhere around 5 to 8% of the United States greenhouse gas emissions. If this could be significantly lowered a few percentage points, it could make a sizable difference – the equivalent of taking a few million cars off the road. So don’t bother drinking less, but just (as you do with most things) consume wisely and waste not.

Eric Steinman is a freelance writer based in Rhinebeck, N.Y. He regularly writes about food, music, art, architecture and culture and is a regular contributor to Bon Appétit among other publications.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/what-is-virtual-water-and-why-should-i-be-worried.html#ixzz1NEqwXsrK

5 KEY STRATEGIES FOR A PLASTIC-FREE LIFE

If, like me, you have been feeling guilty over the usage of too many plastics in your life, here are some useful advice and tips to take which will help cut down on our dependence on them.

Posted by : Rodale at care2.com on May 16, 2011
(originally by Emily Main, ORGANIC GARDENING)

We’ve reduced, reused, and fretted over Ziploc bags for an entire month, and now it’s time to turn all those lessons learned into words we can live by.

Here are the 5 key strategies we learned, which can help anyone live with less plastic:

#1: Expect failure!!
As the team of bloggers over at Growing a Greener World put it, this is one challenge in which failure is almost certain—and that’s OK. As we said from the beginning, completely eliminating all plastic from your life is impossible. Even the stuff you try to avoid will sometimes creep past your defenses, so rather than stress about a mistake or moment of weakness, just accept it and keep trying.


#2: Prioritize.
Deciding to go (mostly) plastic-free can easily leave you feeling overwhelmed. Each of us experienced that sensation, and many of you wrote or commented about that too. So it’s a good idea to start by IDing some of the bigger plastic inputs in your life, and work on those. Once you’ve established a plastic-free habit, you can move on to the next one on your list. Here are some good starting points.


Starting points:

• Focus on food.
Following the lead of Beth Terry’s blog MyPlasticFreeLife.com, we each surveyed a week’s worth of trash to see how we generated most of our plastic garbage. If you’re anything like us, you’ll find that food packaging is your number one source of plastic waste. Along with sheer volume, there are other reasons that food-related plastic is a good place to focus your efforts. Chemicals from plastic packaging and containers leach into the stuff we eat and drink, and therefore have the biggest potential impact on our immediate health.

In addition to avoiding over-packaged foods at the supermarket, swap out plastic food-storage containers and cooking utensils and replace them with glass, ceramic, wood, or other materials. And never heating up food in any kind of plastic is a pretty easy rule to follow.


Ban those bags.
If you forget your reusable bags at the grocery store, carry your items out by hand. After doing that a few times, you’ll probably NEVER forget your bags again! If you do find yourself with more items than you can carry, why not use a cart to get them to the car without bags? At the very least, use as few shopping bags as possible (and don’t bag items that already come in bags, like those oranges or potatoes).

Bring the plastic bags to back to the supermarket for recycling (along with any other stray plastic bags that find their way into your hands). Make it easier on yourself to remember your reusable bags for your next trip by stashing them with your shopper’s club cards, or in your car’s trunk or glove compartment. Or knit a reusable shopping bag!

• Stop using stupid plastic.
Some plastic is just pointless. A straw? Would it kill you to let your lip touch the glass? A plastic bag just to hold the greeting card you bought? Carry it in your hand! Plastic fork? It’ll probably break! Wash your hands and eat with your fingers. Plastic Halloween decorations? Use real bones! (If you eat meat, that is. Otherwise, probably not!)

#3: Reuse, recycle, recreate.
Have a backup plan for the plastic that gets into your life. Find other uses for it if you can, or find out how to recycle it when you’re done. Take plastic bags to the supermarket, know what your curbside program will accept, and know how to recycle your electronics when it’s time to get rid of them. If all else fails, call up a local nonprofit and see if it can be donated. When you’re shopping, buy products packaged in recycled plastic if there isn’t a non-plastic alternative, or even look for used versions of whatever it is you need.

Or, next time you find yourself reaching for something that comes in plastic, think, “Could I make this?” You’d be surprised at how easy it is to whip up hair-care products, body lotions, cleaning products, and pretty much every plastic-packaged food at the store. Or just go without. As Dani, one of the bloggers who followed our challenge on her site News from Nowhere, told us, “I would rather get in the habit of having and using less (of plastics and everything else), than be disgruntled about it when the situation is forced upon me.”

#4: Slow down.
Plastic exists to support the go-go-go lifestyle that we all think we need to maintain. Committing to cutting back on plastic gives you a reason to insert some helpful speed bumps into your day. So enjoy them! Take 10 extra minutes to eat breakfast at home, for example, or use a full 30 minutes to eat lunch at a restaurant, off glass plates using real silverware, rather than grabbing something packaged in plastic to eat at your desk. Along with the benefits of avoiding plastic, you’ll gain an opportunity to catch your breath, enjoy your food, and let go of some stress.

#5: Don’t be a jerk about it.
None of your plastic-addicted friends wants to hear a lecture about the evils of plastic (ours sure didn’t). Be relaxed and nonjudgmental when you talk about your decision to cut the plastic cord. Focus on why the alternative is better, not on why plastic and the people who use it are evil. And let your deeds, rather than your words, be the strongest argument.

Every time you tell a cashier you don’t need a bag, and walk out of the store carrying your carton of milk in your hand instead, you’re planting an idea in the head of everyone around you. And that’s how new norms are created.

Seaweed Recipes

(1) Green Nori Salad

Ingredients:
2 pcs green leafy lettuce (tear into pieces)
1 small onion (optional, sliced thinly and chopped fine)
2 Nori seaweed (toasted type used for sushi. Cut into small pieces)
1 tablebspoon Lemon juice
dash of sea salt
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
(You may substitute the onion with 1/2 a cucumber, seeded & slice thinly)

Method:
(1) Toss all ingredients, except the sesame seeds and seaweed, in a mixing bowl.
(2) Chill mixture in fridge for 30 minutes or so.
(3) Stir in the cut seaweed and sesame seeds just before serving.


Cucumber & Wakame Seaweed Salad

Ingredients:
1 medium size cucumber ( slice into thin rounds)
1 cup wakame seaweed (soak in water till softened. Cut into 2" lengths)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (or lemon juice or apple cider vinegar)
2 tablespoon fine brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Method:
(1) Mix cucumber slices and seaweed in salad bowl.
(2) Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and add to No: 1. Stir in the salt.
(3) Chill mixture and sprinkle sesame seeds on top just before serving.

Seaweed Tofu Soup

Ingredients:
2 pcs silky soft tofu (cut into cubes)
1 small packet of enoki mushrooms
1 small carrot (sliced thin)
5-6 button mushrooms (sliced thin)
5-6 leaves of Napa Cabbage (wong nga pak)(cut into pcs)
Few slices of young ginger
Some wakame or kombu seaweed
Soya sauce
salt to taste

Method
(1) Soak the seaweed until soft and cut into pieces. Leave aside
(2) Put about 1 1/2 litre of water in pot and add in the vegetable.
(3) Bring to a boil and turn down heat and let simmer for another 8-10 mins.
(4) Add in sliced carrots and ginger and continue simmer 5 minutes.
(5) Add in the button mushrooms and eknoni mushrooms and seaweed.
(6) Stir in soy sauce and salt to taste. Finally, add the tofu cubes.
(7) Serve hot.

SEAWEED - Radiation-Fighting Power Food

The recent earthquake and tsunami which struck the northeast coast of Japan not only took the lives of many Japanese people but also caused untold damages to the nuclear reactor plants in Fukushima. This disastrous aftermath is now a nuclear crisis that threatens the health and lives of many who are exposed to the harmful radiation released from the damaged plants. Is there any way we can protect ourselves? Below is a post from Care2.com on the humble seaweed and adding it to your diet will provide you with the extra protection you need....

Posted by :Diana Herrington (April 20th, 2011)


The oldest plant on earth protects you from modern dangers.

The radiation plume drifting onto North America from the Japanese quake disaster is not considered a serious health risk by authorities; but many people want extra protection — particularly if the situation becomes worse.

Why not use this situation to add a powerfood to your diet that not only helps prevent radiation poisoning, but many other serious health problems as well.

Interesting Facts
When the body is saturated with natural iodine from seaweed, it will more readily excrete radioactive iodine taken in from the air, water or food. This prevents radiation poisoning of the thyroid. (see other radiation benefits below)
Seaweeds contain 14 times more calcium by weight than milk.

Seaweed is high in protein, low in fat and contains little or no carbs.
Seaweed has components which lower blood pressure, prevent arteriosclerosis, and combat tumors.

For maximum nutritional value, eat seaweed fresh.


The 5 most popular seaweeds:

Kombu is a sea vegetable which grows in deep sea waters around Hokkaido. It is sold dry in hard sheets or in powder form. It is mostly used in soups as a stock.

Wakame is a sea vegetable, which grows in cool to cold sea waters. It can be used in soups, salads, with other dishes and as seasoning.

Dulse is a red color and has a delicious fresh crisp flavor. It comes in soft sheets in a packages or dried granules that can be sprinkled on food either during cooking or at the table.

Nori is thin and its oily iridescence reflects the colors of the rainbow. This is the most popular seaweed for eating, both historically and today. We mostly know it from eating Maki Sushi. It comes in sheets in a package or dried granules that can be sprinkled on food either during cooking or at the table.

Arame is a dark brown sea vegetable when fresh and blackish when dried. As all other dried seaweed, it is very rich in minerals, particularly calcium and protein (7.5 percent). Arame can be used as a substitute for wakame or hijiki in many applications.

Also, there is kelp which is the most nutritious; it is very high in iodine, contains iron, sodium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and potassium and vitamins A, B1, B2, C, D and E, plus amino acids. It is a very strong tasting seaweed which over powers most foods so not often cooked with. Kelp is often taken in capsules or tablets.


More Amazing Benefits of Seaweed
Seaweed has important antibacterial and antiviral effects.
Seaweed reduces cholesterol levels in the blood, high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis. Laboratory experiments in Japan have shown that this is due to improved metabolism which reduces the accumulation of fats.
Seaweed helps discharge other radioactive elements. Studies starting in 1964 at McGill University in Canada show that a substance in kelp and other common seaweeds could reduce the amount of radioactive strontium absorbed through the intestine by 50 to 80 percent.
Macrobiotic doctors and patients in Nagasaki survived the atomic bombing on
August 9, 1945. They protected themselves against lethal doses of radiation on a diet of brown rice, miso soup, seaweed and sea salt.

Seaweed contains B12 (rarely found in vegetables).
Seaweed is rich in iron, potassium, magnesium, zinc, manganese and 60 trace minerals.
A substance called aliginic acid, found in seaweed, helps the body to eliminate toxins and harmful substances from the body. (Study at McGill University in Montreal)

Now we know why many of us love seaweed so much! It is soooo good for us.

(Blogger's note: I have noticed that kids just love to munch on seaweed. That's great and hope moms out there will include this item in their menu for their families. COMING UP IN OUR NEXT POSTING - recipes using seaweed as an ingredient.)

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/radiation-protection-with-seaweed.html#ixzz0nVo5DbzI

How Much Water Is Needed to Make Your Food ?

Further to the previous posting on PREVIOUS WATER .... here's another update on how much water is required to produce a daily intake of food, especially meat and its related products... ... ...
Conserve and save our precious WATER by eating wise and healthy.... Be vegan and help save the Planet!

Posted By: Greennii on March 29, 2011 @ care2.com

World Water Day was March 22 and since then I’ve been seeing water statistics everywhere. I knew that one pound of beef took a lot of water to produce, but I didn’t know the exact figure and my wildest guess was 500 gallons. Could it possibly take that much? If you grew up in a household anything like mine, we had gallon milk containers and my mom would reuse them in the house or garden for various projects. One was used for watering the houseplants and it seemed I could water several plants with one of those. So as I tried to imagine hundreds of those filled up waiting to water my mom’s plants, I came up with my magical 500 gallons. I was off. Way off. It takes 1,799 gallons [1] to produce a pound of beef. One pound! I have a hard time getting my head around that.

Some of the other products we consume take quite a bit of water, some surprised me in their water-conservancy, but none surprised me more than chocolate. On gallons to make a pound, here’s how the other foods fare:

Goat – 127
Sheep – 731
Pork – 576
Chicken – 468
Milk – 880
Wine – 1,008
Beer – 689
Coffee – 880
Tea – 128
Rice – 449
Potato – 119
Leather – 1,096 – For a Half Pound!
Apple – 18 – For one Apple
Egg – 53 – For one Egg
Chocolate – 3,170
Bread – 11


Now, I’m probably not going to stop drinking wine and coffee, or stop eating chocolate (do I get extra coffee and chocolate credit for not eating beef?), but I am likely to think about how my eating actions affect our planet and steps I can take to conserve more water. Just to be safe for the moment, I think I’ll go snack on some bread and tea.

Jocelyn Broyles

[1] All water consumption statistics from National Geographic’s “The Hidden Water We Use“, sourced form Waterfootprint.org.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-much-water.html#ixzz1LEyQcm7n

PRECIOUS WATER ... ... ...

A MUST READ for all so that we can better appreciate and value earth's natural resources and the environment... ... ...

Posted By : Melissa Beyer on 1st May,2011 at care2.com


Chances are, if you are reading this you have the convenience of turning on a faucet and having a glass of water to drink. You have a toilet that flushes away waste, and you may even have a hose or sprinkler system to quench the thirst of a garden. Those of us living in developed countries have the luxury of potable water, yet more than 1 billion people in low- and middle-income countries lack access to safe water for drinking, personal hygiene and domestic use. Water scarcity is a dire situation, but there is hope.

Twenty percent of the world’s population lacks reasonable access to adequate and safe water, in sub-Saharan Africa that number is 42 percent. And consider this one statistic, of many: 1.8 million people (90 percent under the age of 5) die every year from diarrhoeal diseases, 88 percent of which is attributed to unsafe water supply.

Most water-related diseases are due to the way water resources are developed and managed. In many parts of the world the adverse health impacts of water pollution, dam construction, irrigation development and flood control cause significant preventable disease. Water covers more than 70 percent of the earth’s surface—that’s about 332,500,000 cubic miles of water! But 96 percent of that is saline, leaving only a small portion of that to sustain socio-economic development and to sustain the planet’s ecosystems that depend on fresh water.

As our population grows, the need for more groundwater and surface water intensifies. This leads to tension, conflict and excessive stress to the environment. The increasing need for freshwater resources from increasing demand and waste, as well as by growing pollution, is of serious concern. According to the World Health Organization, water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century, and an increasing number of regions are chronically short of water. By 2025, two-thirds of the world population could be under stress conditions due to water issues.

Given these facts, it seems obvious that the world’s water supply needs some help. Although the problem has been increasing steadily for decades, it wasn’t until the Dublin Conference on Water and the Environment in 1992 and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 that the major international organizations began to address a more comprehensive approach to water management for sustainable development.

In 2003, The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the years 2005 to 2015 as the International Decade for Action “Water for Life.” The goal of this campaign is to fulfill international commitments to water issues by the year 2015. Among those commitments are the Millennium Development Goals—goal number seven (of eight) includes the reduction by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015 and to stop unsustainable exploitation of water resources. At the World Summit in Johannesburg in 2002, two other goals were adopted: Aim to develop integrated water resource management and water efficiency plans by 2005 and to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation. These international efforts have galvanized tremendous efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.

So, what can we do to help? We are so privileged to have access to fresh water, and quite frankly, many take it for granted. Think of all the fresh water used to fill swimming pools in the US, and consider that we take all that fresh water and make it undrinkable with the addition of chlorine and other chemicals. Meanwhile, in many places women and girls are charged with the responsibility of spending their entire day seeking out meager amounts of water for their families. Put it this way, while the average American individual uses between 100 and 176 gallons each day, the average African family uses only 5 gallons.

Our first step might simply be to love our water. Recognize it for the luxury it is. Protect our groundwater by using care not to dispose of toxic materials down the drain, and conserve water everywhere that you can. Familiarize yourself with some of the international water initiatives, and make a donation of time or money to them. And most importantly, simply treat this valuable resource with the respect it deserves.


Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/precious-water.html