Are Humans Designed To Eat Meat?

 

Balancing The pH In Your Body: Acid Vs Alkaline

 

Why is the western world so fat and sick? This video describes the bodies constant fight to balance out the pH. Our blood is needs to be between 7.35-7.45 pH, slightly alkaline. The body draws nutrients from the food it digests, which either acidify or alkalise the blood. When there is not enough nutrients to keep the blood slightly alkaline, the body leaches minerals from the bones and other places. For example, calcium is drawn from the bones to counteract all the calcium rich dairy consumed!

 

Stomach acid is 1 on the scale. Soft drinks, 2.5. Coffee, 3. Blood, 7.35-.45. Sea water, 8.5. Baking soda, 12.  

 

Diets high in animal products and caffeinated drinks are very acid forming, opposed to fruits and vegetables which alkalise. The high water content, vitamins and minerals in fruit and vegetables help to alkalise and balance the pH in the body. They take roughly and hour to digest, compared to a piece of meat which can take days!

RECIPE: Easy Peasy Potato Cakes

 

These easy peasy potato cakes are based on the traditional English peasant dish Bubble and Squeak, usually made from leftover vegetables from a Sunday roast! 

 

Makes 8-10 cakes

 

Ingredients

 

8 boiled potatoes

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1/4 cup frozen corn

1/4 cup frozen peas

1 handful spinach, chopped

 

1. Pre boil the potatoes. Once the potatoes are boiled mash them up. Add pepper, onion powder, salt, chilli flakes, corn, peas, and spinach. Mix well.

 

2. Create palm-sized cakes out of the mixture.

 

3. In a non-stick frying pan on medium-low heat, place a cakes and press down in the pan until it is about 3/4 inch thick. Cook until brown on the bottom, then flip over and repeat.

 

Serve with your favourite sauce, along side a big salad, or with soup.

 

TIPS

- Use whatever spices you like! Add some curry powder, chilli, paprika, cumin, etc. Make them your own.  

 



Protein Kills - Save Your Kids!

Kevin W. Reese - Protein Kills!

 

In the video above Kevin W. Reese talks about the negative effects of protein on the body, I advise you spend 10 minutes and watch it.

 

A few points Kevin makes about protein:

•  Protein is on the acid side of chemistry. When we consume protein our bodies have to break that protein down into amino acids. For this to occur the body has the produce more pepsin and hydrochloric acid, more acids! This causes inflammation and as Kevin puts it, causes your body to be, "on fire".

• We need amino acids not protein. You get amino acids from fruit and vegetables.

• Extremely harsh on the kidneys. Too much protein in the diet can lead to the kidneys leaking protein.

• We're a protein driven society. Protein basically sells products; protein powders, amounts added to labels, etc. In America the 'GOT MILK' campaign is pretty big, adverts on TV highlight the benefits of drinking milk, and how it does the body good!

Eat a plant-based diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and you'll cover your protein needs, easy peasy!

RECIPE: Good Morning Green Smoothie

Good morning green smoothie

 

A perfect blend of fruit, berries and greens to start your day.

 

Ingredients

 

200ml water

4 ripe bananas

Large handful of spinach

1 celery stalk

1/2 cup frozen or fresh blueberries

1 tbsp hemp seeds (optional)

 

1. Toss in the blender and whizz it up!

 

RECIPE: Datorade

Datorade!

 

Forget the expensive and nasty sports drinks available on the market today, get some natural liquid energy from this banana and date concoction! Inspired by Tim Shieff's recent FoodTube video.

 

Tim (aka Livewire) is a freerunner, and in terms of competitions won, he is the most successful in the world! Tim is also a vegan, and I highly recommend you watch his video, Why I Stopped Eating Meat (posted below recipe). I've also posted his version of the Datorade. 

 

Post-Workout High Carb Smoothie-Tim Shieff 

Ingredients

 

4-5 ripe bananas

8-10 dried dates (soaked in warm water to soften)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 litre water

 

1. Add all ingredients into the blender and press go!

 

TIPS

- Use more cinnamon and ginger if you please, or don't use at all.



 Tim Shieff: Why I stopped eating meat.

The Most Powerful 1 Minute Video You'll See All Year

 

Everything you're about to see is considered standard and acceptable by the factory farming industry.

 

I'll admit it, I didn't start eating a plant-based vegan diet for ethical reasons, we humans are selfish, and I'm no different. I'll do a post on why I went plant-based in the future. But for now, watch this video on the standard practices in the farming industry.

RECIPE: Polenta Pizza

Pizza Time!

 

Polenta is golden-yellow cornmeal made from ground maize which only takes a few minutes to cream up to make an easy pizza base. This was my first attempt at making a base from polenta and it was remarkably simple. Whip up a quick tomato sauce, throw some veggies on top and 'wah-lah', a pizza is born!

 

Makes 1 large pizza

 

Ingredients

 

2 cups water (may vary depending on polenta used)

1 cup polenta

1 cup homemade tomato sauce*

2 cups fresh spinach

handful cherry tomatoes

1 yellow pepper, sliced

1/2 courgette, sliced

1/2 red chilli, finely diced

Any other of your favourite veggie toppings

 

*homemade tomato sauce recipe (makes around 4-5 cups worth)

500g carton tomato passata

2x 400g can chopped tomatoes, drained

2 tsp dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

1 tbsp agave nectar

- Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.

- Decrease heat to low and simmer for further 5-10 minutes.

- Use 1 cup worth for the pizza and refrigerate/freeze the rest for a later date.

 

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius. Line a pizza tray with parchment paper.

 

2. Bring water to a boil. Add the polenta and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and there are no lumps (instructions may vary).

 

3. Pour polenta onto the parchment paper and flatten out with a rolling pin into desired crust. Pre bake the crust for 10 minutes.

 

4. Remove the crust, add tomato sauce and your toppings of choice. Return to the oven and bake for a further 10-15 minutes.

 

5. Slice the pizza into healthy portions and enjoy! Serve with a big leafy salad.

 

TIPS

- You may need to heat up the tomato sauce to thicken it up a bit before using it on the pizza.

 



PROTEIN: My Beef With Meat

"Where do you get your protein?"

 "You can't get enough protein from eating plants"

What is PROTEIN?

 

Proteins are nutrients made up of one or more chains of amino acids. These are essential to the structure, function and regulation of every cell in the human body.

 

Each protein chain contains 20 amino acids, 8 of which are called "essential amino acids" that can only be obtained through food. These are known as "complete proteins" and are found in meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, dairy, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds.

 

The World Health Organisation recommends that we get around 10% of our total calories from protein. They suggest following this formula to calculate your daily protein requirements:

(0.8 grams) x (your ideal body weight in kilo grams) = protein in grams

So, using this formula a 65kg guy like me should be getting 52 grams of protein per day.

TIM VAN ORDEN ON THE PROTEIN MYTH

So, you can only get high quality protein from animal products right? WRONG.

 

Animal Protein

 

Most people in the western world consume way too much animal protein. We've been lead to believe that this source of protein is the 'mecca' of good health and nutrition and we can't thrive without it. Animal protein is bad for your bones, creates inflammation, raises cholesterol levels and is extremely harsh on the liver and kidneys. Not to mention the high amounts of saturated fat is most meats which can lead to heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

The meat and dairy industries are big business, and through canny marketing we've been brainwashed to believe that consuming animal protein will keep your bones strong and muscles lean. Not the case. Animal protein is very acidic to the body. In order to neutralise the acidity in the bloodstream the body needs to balance out our pH, alkalise. The most effective alkalising agencies is the calcium stored in our bones! So by eating meat and dairy you dump acids into the bloodstream, therefore to alkalise this your body leaches essential calcium from your bones, which can lead to osteoporosis! "But you need to drink milk for calcium don't you?" Doesn't sound like it to me! In fact the countries that consume the most dairy products and eat the most meat - America, Northern Europe, Australia and New Zealand actually have the highest bones fracture rates! The regions that consume the lowest amount - eastern Asia and Africa have 50-70% lower rates! 

 

Plant Protein

 

Plant proteins are complete proteins, just like animal proteins.

 

"So why are plant proteins healthier?" Well, they have a much healthier composition and balance of the essential amino acids which protect us from inflammation and tumour growth. Also, plants contain fibre, phytonutrients and antioxidants, none of which are found in meat!

Where to get your PROTEIN!

 

By eating a whole food plant-based diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds you're more than covered. A medium banana is 5% protein and lemons as much as 15%! Leafy green vegetables such as kale or spinach boast as much as 50%! Quinoa is 18% protein.

 

All you have to do is consume enough calories of these wonderful foods and you're sorted. EASY PEASY!

RECIPE: Bean & Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Rip's No-Meat Quesadillas

 

 

I recently purchased Rip Esselstyn's latest book, My Beef With Meat. Son of Caldwell Esselstyn, Rip is a strong-strong beast! I turned straight to the recipe pages to see what I could cook up. I'm always drawn to the most simple recipes, they mainly include some kind of potato or rice and this one has both!

 

Rip, former professional triathlete and now Texan firefighter, managed to get his team of meat eating colleagues to go plant-strong! Everyone lost weight, lowered their cholesterol and improved their overall health.

 

I've modified the recipe a bit to suit my needs. Give it a try!

 

Serves 4

 

Ingredients

 

1 large sweet potato (or 2-3 small ones)

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 cup salsa (see my Hearty Stew for recipe)

1 cup fresh spinach

1 400g can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

200g can refried beans

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp ground cumin

8 wholewheat tortillas

1 chilli, diced (optional)

Guacamole to serve

 

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. Quarter sweet potato and bake until soft, about 40 minutes.

 

2. Meanwhile, cook the brown rice. Remove the potato from the oven and transfer to a mixing bowl. Mash together the potato, rice, salsa and spinach. 

 

3. Place the sweet potato mash in a saucepan and mix in the kidney beans and refried beans. Heat the mixture through over medium heat. Add onion, chilli and cumin, stir. Tip, add a splash of water to avoid sticking.

 

4. Place a tortilla on a non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat and slather some of the mixture on top. Add extra diced chilli if you please. Place another tortilla on top and press down on top tortilla with a spatula. Cook for about 3 minutes, flip over and repeat.

 

5. Serve with a green salad and guacamole. Eat as many as you want! I went through about 3 of 'em.

Low Carb Paleo Vs High Carb Plant-Based?

Who looks the fittest & leanest?

 

Low carb paleo authors:

Loren Cordain, Sally Fallon, William Davies, Barry Sears, Robert Atkins (diet 258 pounds from a heart attack, must have been the fruit!),

High carb plant-based:

Neal Barnard, Pam Popper, Joel Furman, John McDougall, Caldwell Esselstyn & his son Rip.

Would you by a weight loss diet book from someone who looks like they could do with shedding a few pounds themselves, or one from someone fit and lean?

World's Fattest Women: Obese Supermodel Susanne Eman

 

"That's a lot of ankle!"

Obese model Susanne Eman is saying 'Supersize Me' for real - in her bid to become the fattest woman ever. She fuels her gains on a bacon and egg rich paleo primal diet.

The 52-stone bombshell aims to reach a whopping 115 stone, or 1,600lb, by guzzling at least 20,000 calories a day.
Susanne, 32, from Arizona, USA, hopes to pass the half-way milestone of 57 stones by the end of the year.

RECIPE: Thai Green Curry

McDougall Style Thai Green Curry

 

This one is straight from the McDougall's back pocket. John McDougall, MD, the author of The Starch Solution and his wife Mary cook up some fantastic high carb, low fat plant-based recipes. The McDougall diet has been extremely successful is preventing and reversing heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity. What's not to like!

 

I find most of their recipes quick and simple just like this one, of course all their cooking is oil-free, vegan and mostly rice and potato based.

 

Serves 3-4

 

Ingredients

 

100ml vegetable stock

1 onion, diced

1 red pepper, cubes

1 yellow pepper, cubed

1 green pepper, cubed

2 tbsp thai green curry paste (homemade or shop bought)

2 cups sweetheart cabbage, coarsely chopped

1 cup frozen broccoli florets

1 cup frozen cauliflower florets

150g sugar snap peas

2 tbsp soy sauce

4 cups cooked brown rice

4 small tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 tsp dried basil

200g coconut milk

 

1. Place stock in a pan with onion and peppers. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the paste.

 

2. Add cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas and soy sauce. Mix and cover, reduce heat to low and cook until vegetables are tender, 5-10 minutes.

 

3. Add cooked rice, tomatoes, dried basil and coconut milk. Cook for a further 3 minutes.

 

TIPS

- Spice it up! On reflection I would definitely add a green chilli next time for a bit more kick.

- In the McDougall's recipe they use rice/almond milk along with 1 tsp coconut extract. I believe this is to keep the fat content even lower.

- By all means use fresh broccoli and cauliflower. 



 





RECIPE: Big Breakfast Smoothie

Perfect way to start the day!

 

Today I had to pick something up from a friends house (hi Ryan) which is about 4.5 miles away from where I live. I decided to run there and back and I'd not done this kind of mileage in a day for a while so was pretty hungry when I got back home!

 

I got there in pretty good time and had about a hours chat with my friend Ryan (my only subscriber at the minute!) who's looking to increase the number of plant-based meals he consumes and try cut out the "crap" in his diet. He likes to make his own food and is a good cook, but knows I've not consumed animal products for around a year or so and was interested in some of the things I eat day to day. I mentioned pretty much every morning I have a smoothie or eat fruit up until midday.

 

When I got home from the run he text me to say, "Get a load of smoothie recipes up".

 

So Ryan, this one is for you!

 

Serves 1 (could be split into 2 servings)

 

Ingredients

 

500ml water

8 ripe bananas (these were small-medium) 

Handful or 2 of spinach

1 cup frozen or fresh raspberries

2 tbs hemp seeds (optional)

1. Put in the blender in that order and blend away!
 

TIPS
- Use kale instead of spinach
- Swap raspberries for your favourite berry. I like blackberries and strawberries.
- You don't need a fancy blender to make smoothies. I've used a hand-blender for about a year until I saved up and got a high-speed one.

 



Oil: Health Food Or Junk Food?

Oil is one of the first ingredients you see when looking at a recipe. Olive, sunflower, canola, coconut, sesame, peanut, walnut, the list is endless.

These days you will see heart healthy margarine spreads made with extra-virgin olive oil and even junk foods like crisps donning a little logo saying, "Made with high-oleic sunflower oil". It's correct, oil has become a 'health' food.

Claims are made that olive oil reduces the risk of heart disease, aids digestion and has anti-aging proporities. It reduces the 'bad' cholesterol (LDL) and boosts the 'good' cholesterol (HDL). Some suggest coconut oil helps weight loss and also boost metabolism.

What's the real deal though?

Well, popular to mainstream belief these oils aren't all they're cracked up to be, especially when trying to combat the biggest killer in America and the UK, heart disease.

The NHS states:

"Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the UK's biggest killer, causing around 82,000 deaths each year. About one in five men and one in eight women die from the disease".

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Coronary-heart-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx

 

Watch these two videos to understand the facts about oils.

 

Caldwell Esselstyn Jr MD of Cleveland Clinic has shown heart disease can be reversed 100% of the time, using a plant-based diet. Olive oil -- and ANY oil -- increases heart disease, the same way butter does. Looks pretty healthy and lean for an 80 year doesn't he?! 

 

 

 Jeff Novick. OIL TO NUTS.

 

Now, I'm not completely against the consumption of oils. For me if you're going to consume oils I recommend not heating them as some burn at low temperatures and can turn into trans fat (not good!). If you fancy drizzling a small amount onto your salad every so often, feel free. Make sure it's a good quality cold-pressed oil as most of the shop bought ones are refined which filters out nutrients and flavour. Oils are most beneficial when used externally. For example, coconut oil is great for moisturising the hair and skin.

 

If you are trying to lose weight I'd would definately cut out oils. Every gram of fat (no matter what source it comes from) holds 9 calories. One tablespoon of olive oil contains 120 calories! Vice versa, a gram of carbohydrate only has 4 calories, less than half the calories in any fat.

 

How to cook without oil

 

* Use water or vegetable stock to saute or fry. Keep a glass of water on hand in case you need to add more.

 

* When roasting vegetables or potatoes in the oven I like to use lemon juice which adds great flavour and is fat-free.

 

For more oil-free cooking tips check out this site:

http://engine2diet.com/the-daily-beet/guest-post-cooking-without-oil-by-cathy-fisher

1907 New York Times Article Shows That Meat Causes Cancer. A Century Later, Many People Still Haven't Heard The News.

Dr Neal Barnard's Blog: 
http://www.pcrm.org/media/blog/dec2013/1907-emnew-york-timesem-article-shows-that-meat


"How does meat cause cancer? It could be the heterocyclic amines—carcinogens that form as meat is cooked. It could also be the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or the heme iron in meat, or perhaps its lack of fiber and paucity of antioxidants".

"Over the past century, meat eating in America has soared, as have cancer statistics. USDA figures show that meat eating rose from 123.9 pounds of meat per person per year in 1909 to 201.5 pounds in 2004".

RECIPE: Hearty Stew

A butternut squash & potato stew for those cold winter days

This stew is based on the 'Hearty Stew' from The China Study Cookbook by LeAnne Campbell, daughter of T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study. Sighted as the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted, the book provides impregnable evidence that a plant-based diet leads to optimal health with the power to halt or reverse many diseases. Enjoy!

Serves 4

Ingredients

950 ml vegetable stock (I use Marigold Swiss Vegetable Vegan Bouillon Power, Reduced Salt)
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 red pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
1 medium sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Salsa*
1 tbsp. dried oregano
2 courgettes, chopped
1 400g can borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
1.5 cups frozen garden peas

*Salsa
1/2 200g jar jalapenos (I used Mexican Discovery Red Jalapenos)
1 tbsp. lemon or lime juice
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
400g can chopped tomatoes, not drained
Pinch of sea salt

• Add all ingredients to food processor or blender and mix.

1. Heat 75ml stock and soy sauce in a large pan. Add red and yellow peppers and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.

2. Add remaining stock, butternut squash, potatoes, salsa and oregano. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the squash is just tender, about 15 minutes.

3. Add courgettes, borlotti beans and peas. Cook for a further 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve.

TIPS
-Substitute the garden peas for corn.
-Borlotti beans can be replaced with any other bean of choice.
-Use your favourite shop bought salsa if you don't want to make it yourself!

A Marathon A Day Keeps The Doctor Away: Running Raw

Janette Murray-Wakelin and Alan Murray running raw around Australia. (Telegraph, 2014)

Read article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/10545857/Vegans-powered-by-raw-food-complete-year-of-daily-marathons.html

Now, I like to go for the occasional jog but these two plant-powered beauty's ran a marathon a day for a whole year, then managed one more on New Years Day!

That's a record breaking 366 consecutive days, from 4am to 4pm, and almost 10,000 miles. Best of all, they were fuelled by raw plant foods.

At the ripe ages of 64 and 68, Janette and Alan ate nothing but raw fruits and vegetables to power their way around Australia. They started their days with a 10 banana, grapefruit and date smoothie (sounds like a recipe idea!), and then ate even more bananas, green smoothies and fruit salads. No animal protein for recovery or cod liver oil to keep their joints loose, just raw fruits and vegetables. Radical stuff hey!

I first heard of these two crazy cats when watching one of durianriders youtube videos (see below). Harley (durianrider) joined Janette and Alan to complete a marathon in late November.

 

 

Inspirational stuff. Now where's my Nike's? 

 

 



RECIPE: Sweet Potato Curry

 

High carb, low fat plant-powered curry!

 

Serves 4

 
Ingredients

275ml vegetable stock (I use Marigold Swiss Vegetable Vegan Bouillon Power, Reduced Salt)
1 large carrot, diced
1 yellow pepper, cubed
1 red pepper, cubed
1 red chilli, diced (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. turmeric
2-3 sweet potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
500g carton organic tomato passata
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
Brown rice to serve
 
 
1. Heat 75ml stock in a large pan. Add the carrot, peppers and chilli and cook for 5 minutes until slightly softened, stirring occasionally.
 
2. Stir in onion powder, cayenne, coriander, cumin and turmeric. Cook for 1 minute.
 
3. Add the sweet potatoes, green beans, passata and remaining stock. Bring to a boil, cover and lower heat to medium-low. Cook for around 15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Add chickpeas and cook for a further 5 minutes. Sea salt and black pepper to taste.
 
4. Serve over brown rice.