There have been suggestions that Barbie and I should record some of our memories of life in our past. However important this might be, to me it is not as important as doing all I can to persuade my children, their partners and their children to follow a vegan life style.

One member of the family recently dismissed the notion that eating plant based food is sufficient to stop the incursion of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCD), control the development of those that have already become established and in many cases reverse the damage already done by them.

In the absence of a lecture hall where I might be able to subject my nearest and dearest to sit quietly to hear my reports on the facts that have been established, I am resorting to this document for all to read.

Recent research, of a relatively trite nature, has established that on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 indicates an almost wrinkle-free face of a middle aged woman and 10 a severely wrinkled face, a large number of photographs were judged by objective viewers.  Those living a vegan life style scored an average of around 3 and those who ate animal origin food scored around 8.  Subsequent work established that the vegan’s skin was receiving up to 20% more oxygen than the meat eaters.

These results support in a simple way the reason why so many good health aspects occur with veganism.  One well established explanation is the value of healthy endophilia.

Our approximately 100,000 kilometres of blood vessels, arteries, veins and capillaries, are all lined with a single cell coating known as endophilia.  These cells carry out at least two important functions.  The first is to manufacture nitro-glycerine, which is the substance required for blood vessels to easily contract and dilate, allowing maximum blood flow to all parts of the body. The second is to provide a Teflon-like coating to again allow maximum blood flow.

There is ample proof that an immediate effect on endophilia, after eating meat or most processed food, is the cessation of nitro-glycerine production. This negative effect lasts for up to 6 hours, meaning that 3 improper meals a day gives the body little chance of getting good oxygen supply to every one of its trillions of cells and so depriving them of health and strength to withstand the depredations of life.

There is also well established proof that the same meals cause endophilia to break away from the blood vessel walls and tumble into the blood stream.  These walls lose their Teflon-like surface, blood flow is restricted and the released endophilia are inclined to group together to form mini clots which in turn knock other endophilia off the wall.

Recent work has shown some more devastating problems for the endophilia.  It is now well established that we all have a “leaky gut”; this is the term used for any situation when a whole protein cell passes through the gut wall and into the blood stream.  When this occurs our body’s defence is to encourage the few white blood cells, held in reserve for the situation, to multiply rapidly and seek out and destroy the alien protein.  The problem for us all is that frequently, when the alien protein is of animal origin, the destruction can get out of control and cells within our body, that look very similar to the alien can start to become destroyed.  The severity of the on-going damage is dependent on the speed with which the body can bring the marauding white blood cells under control and this is dependent on the severity of the gut leak.  In many cases the damage done can become irreparable, setting up one or more of the legion of NCD that can afflict us and which are known, euphemistically, as auto immune diseases.

There are sufficient research results to satisfy me that most NCD damage can be halted in their tracks and many, including heart and vascular damage, cancers, arthritis, diabetes, dementia, can be reversed, once ingestion food of animal origin stops.  Others such as thyroid damage cannot be reversed and pills seem to be almost obligatory.  The constant worry is what other damaged organs are under attack and how will we deal with each one that presents itself.

Unfortunately for meat eaters, the damage is insidious, the results in our community are seen as inevitable and the promise of a pharmaceutical cure falsely alluring.  The other unhappy fact is that to avoid and reverse NCD all food of animal origin and most processed foods must be completely avoided.

Very recent research has thrown up some further interesting aspects of cancer development.  The process is complex and I am still getting my head around it, but I will outline what I understand so far.  Another auto immune effect is that the body’s fight to ward off the threat of damage by alien proteins is to coat every cell with a protective membrane.  It appears it is this reaction which is the cause of endophilia letting go of the blood vessel linings.  It also appears that the clotting effect of loose endophilia is exacerbated by these getting mixed up with the bundles of white blood cells dealing with alien proteins.  However the worst of the story is that cancerous cells have an ability to make the most of an auto immune situation, caused by gut leak of an alien animal protein, and trick the body into prioritising blood supply to cancer cells.  Eliminating alien animal proteins from our blood will allow our own body, over time, to deal with the problem.

Thus my original thoughts of dealing with a lack of warfarin, by giving my blood vessels every opportunity to work more efficiently, has now been overtaken by fears that any self-indulgence in eating inappropriate food is  letting my aging body down in the way it deals with the meat eating problems I have subjected it to. 

I am convinced that the initiation of all NCD is self-inflicted and that we have it within ourselves to halt and repair the damage, at no cost to us or the health industry and with a guarantee of the better life.  Multiple studies have shown an average of over 10 years longer life for vegans compared to meat eaters and while the cynics say that life without meat seems longer, I can vouch that my life has improved immeasurably in health and confidence since I have gone vegan.

I have recently modified my little piece of paper I hand out at restaurants.  

The new version puts an emphasis on starch, as my previous message often resulted in an abundance of greens with insufficient bulk and starch.  This one seems to work better, but I am open to any suggestions as to how it can be improved.

To the Chef,
Please serve me a plant-based whole-food meal, free of meat, milk and oil products.
Suggestion – Establish a starch base (e.g. potatoes, rice or lentils) and garnish with your choice of vegetables, herbs and condiments.
Many thanks.

I know there are many, including my wife Barbie, who relax from the "rules" when they eat out.  What they miss out on are some spectacularly adventurous vegan meals prepared by chefs who delight in the challenge.  My mouth waters at the thought of them!

First published in Seaport Scene
Early on in my journey into vegan living, I tossed out all the forbidden foods from our kitchen.  It is too easy to slip back to habits of a life time and turn to oils and fats to enhance flavours.

Cooking without oil is one of the first hurdles to overcome.  The alternative is surprisingly easy and the result indistinguishable from oil sauté.

Create a pot of vegetable stock by roasting a few veges then boiling the browned result for an hour or so.  I leave a pot on the stove and when any vegetable offcuts, fruit cores, citrus skins etc are around I throw them into the gently simmering pot and once a day, sieve off the stock.  

With your stock pot simmering, heat your pan, throw in a dessertspoonful of hot stock followed by whatever you are cooking. As the liquid evaporates, add another spoonful of stock, never more than one at a time, so that the pan retains its maximum heat.  Toss in the condiments that you normally use and serve.  That’s it.  No oil, no spattering, no grease around the kitchen.  You hardly need detergent to clean up.

Vegetarian diet cuts heart risk by 32%. 

An essential read, if you have any heart concerns.

Diabetes can be easily controlled and often reversed on a plant based whole food diet.

Read what your risks are, if you don't start reversing your diabetes risk  - Click here 

I am frequently asked why it is that keep harping on about living a vegan life.  To express the following in a short sentence seems to be impossible.  To simply respond "Because I want to live a long time" generally gets the retort, "Well don't we all?".  To go deeper into the subject often arouses either anger or boredom.

The following is taken from this web site, but I often update it, so felt it worthwhile putting it up as a blog.

I would welcome any reasons for becoming a vegan or for not becoming a vegan, that are not shown below.  And I would welcome any challenge to the reasons given.



Reasons for becoming Vegan 

• You live a long time.
  
• You join the majority; more than 75% of the world’s population are vegans. 
  
• You avoid or reverse chronic diseases, (as scientifically proven) such as cancer, cardio-vascular degeneration, weakened bones, diabetes, dementia, many food allergies and other life restricting ailments. 
  
• You are more than 40% less likely to get cancer.
  
• You will live, on average, more than 10 years longer than your meat eating friends.
  
• You  become more active and alert.
  
• You never feel bloated after a meal.
  
• You never feel hungry.
  
• You change your weight, you eliminate your obesity.
  
• You save a huge number of dollars.
  
• You reduce your dependence on pharmaceutical products.
  
• You discover exciting new flavours and tastes.
  
• You reduce your environmental footprint more than any other single activity. 
  
• Despite living longer, you save your country, your insurer or your family from some of the major expenses of old age.
  
• Your ancestors developed, to your present high performance level, through eating starches, not, as many erroneous advocates would have us believe, from eating meat.
  
• You eliminate fatty/oily deposits on plates and kitchen surroundings - minimizing detergent usage.
  
• You will not get food poisoning.
  
• You avoid bacterial contamination of cutting boards.
  
• There is every likelihood that you will die of old age
  
• You will never die from veganism.
  

     
Reasons for not becoming a vegan 

• You don’t believe the science proving the association between animal proteins and heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
  
• You have weighed up the risks versus rewards and believe that the pleasures of meat eating is worth the risks, even if you die at least ten years earlier of an agonising condition.
  
• You don’t want to consider the huge impact on the environment created by the production and consumption of meat and milk. 
  
• You have not considered what the world would look like if everyone ate meat.
  
• You don’t want to change the status quo.
  
• You like eating animal fats and proteins. 
  
• You worry what the farmers will do, if their income from meat and milk is reduced.
  

Approximately 75% of the world’s population live on a vegan/vegetarian diet, however only 3% of the western population are practicing vegans and up to 10% are vegetarians. What the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ die from strongly reflects our dietary differences.

In broad terms a vegan is someone who does not eat any food from animals, whereas vegetarians have a variety of personal rules; mostly they do not eat meat, but are happy eating milk products and eggs.  The reasons for not eating meat include religion, concern for animals and health.

I am a vegan for my health.  There is an outstanding amount of scientific evidence showing the positive effects of eating only plant based whole food, including prevention and often curing a wide range of diseases.  My vegan lifestyle means I avoid all animal based products and processed foods, including vegetable oils and flour based products. I eat to my heart’s content starchy and green vegetables, fruits, grains and seeds. 

The change to vegan cooking has been a fascinating learning experience and having lost weight and gained health, my desire is to share the pleasures and rewards of cooking vegan meals through these pages. 

I am verbose and relentless in speaking out in favour of a plant based whole food life-style.  I enjoy reaffirming the value of being a vegan and am also enjoying the positive comments that come back.  Further it is delightful to know that the tide is slowly turning as more people adopt this way of life.

Locally, I publish in our local Picton Newspaper "Seaport Scene" a fortnightly column.  I intend to present the same content on this blog.

Each piece will have a by-line "First published in Seaport Scene".

You worry about inflammation, let others worry about inflation.

Inflation can cause discomfort but seldom pain or death.  It is inflammation in our bodies that leads to discomfort, pain and frequently premature death.  

So we should all concentrate on lowering inflammation. 
 
Here are a few video clips from Dr Micheal Greger, on his site, that are well worth watching.

The Leaky Gut Theory of Why Animal Products Cause Inflammation 

Reumatoid arthritis

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crones Disease 

Fighting Inflammation in a Nut Shell