Hints and suggestions
The following is the mantra I try to live by. It is on a card I pass to restaurants and friends if they want to assist me in my diet.
Plant based, whole food rules...
- Enjoy – an abundance of plant based, whole foods. Vegetables (root and green), seeds (grains, beans and legumes) and all fruits.
- Avoid - processed foods including flour based breads and pastas.
- Reject - animal proteins. Meat, fish, dairy, eggs and all oils.
The shorter version reads…
To the Chef,
Please serve me an animal and oil-free vegan meal, using a base of starch, (e.g. potatoes, rice or lentils) garnished with an abundance of your choice of vegetables, fungi, herbs and condiments.
Many thanks, James Wilson
- Prepare meals that overcome the “need” for meat surrounded by veges when presenting food. Make the starch component the centre of attention, or enhance the starch component with colourful or spicy veges.
- You make time for your exercise and time and money to maintain good health; make time to prepare the best meals you can. Cook and eat an abundance of tasty and nourishing fresh food.
- Veganism gets a bad rap, because too many people give up meat but don’t replace it with well thought out meals. If your time means money, spend it on creating good meals, not on expensive food.
- Protein is one of the most misunderstood and, consequently, most abused substances in the food supply. There can be a 10-fold (1000%) difference between our basic requirements and the amount some people consume. All plant foods contain protein and all the protein you need and more, is easily derived from plant foods alone.
- When they are happy a vegan should eat more of everything allowed; when they are unhappy they should eat even more, as it will create even more positive energy. There are many links established between mental instability and animal proteins.
- Eating animal protein, particularly milk, causes acidification of the body leading to depletion of calcium from bones to redress the balance. Poor bone structure is the result. Vegetables and exercise will regrow lost bone.
- The simplest way to maintain a good diet is to draw a firm line in the sand over which you will not cross. Saying that you will only eat a little of some foods, is like saying I am giving up smoking except for the occasional one. The line gets broken and stepping back to that line is difficult.
- Our line puts alcohol to be on the acceptable side of the line, but it is interesting that our consumption is reducing and our consumption of tea and coffee has also voluntarily dropped enormously. We seem to drink considerably more water than we did as carnivores. My new personal rule is to drink a glass of water every time I use the toilet, which ensures that I am taking in what I am putting out.
- The two per cent rule. All the Plant Based Food Proponents agree on at least 98% of what they advocate, but the non-believers and the sceptics will constantly refer to the 2% of disagreement in order to discredit the whole concept. You can make your own choice on the 2%, but you have to accept the 98% advocacy based on scientific results.
