Are Humans Omnivores? Carnivores? or Herbavores?

Many people have come up to me and pointed to their "canine" teeth and said "See these? These were made to eat meat!" Well, is that exactly true? Find out for yourself. I mean, they're not exactly like cat teeth are they? Check out the site and chart below to see which one you are!

This site explains some of the key differences between Omnivores, Carnivores and Herbavores.


This chart shows the comparison between the physical aspects of each type of creature.

This is another site that explains some differences.
http://www.waoy.org/26.html

Also, if you watch the videos I posted earlier, you will get more insight into this.

Questions? Opinions? POST EM!

Another YouTube talker

This girl is fantastic with the way she displays information. Check out her videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxybtRNa_wc&NR=1&feature=endscreen

"Right to eat meat"
"Jesus ate Fish"
"Sick of Vegans opinions"

are some of the ones I really enjoy.

Clams, Muscles, oysters, scallops...Feelings?

I have a friend at work who questioned weather or not these particular invertibrates had enough of a nervous system or brain functionality to feel emotion or pain when humans choose to eat them.

I've been slowly starting to research this and am finding mixed results. This particular forum that i stumbled upon is pretty interesting though because it explores not only the particular animals and some science behind it,but also how some people choose to define themselves according to the diets they have chosen. Very interesting stuff.

Do you eat these invertibrates and how do you feel about it? Do you think they have feelings/emotion? Do you think they feel pain? Do you think they want to be eaten? DO you think they are on this earth for the purpose of human consumption? Let me know wha tyou think!

http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?3493-Clams-oysters-scallops-and-mussels/page4

This is also a children's site to teach about the nervous systems of invertibrates:

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/invert.html

Food Combination Chart

This is a good chart to reference for food combinations, but also gives examples of the many choices vegetarians and vegans have in their diet.

We don't just eat salad!

*If you are having a hard time reading the image, visit this site instead to view the chart clearer:http://abcompany.com/abco/aw/nutrition/food_combining.htm

Gary Yourofsky

This professor gives his students something to think about...

Try it out for yourself!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6U00LMmC4

Here is the Q and A session video too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&v=WIkC4OJEx3c&src_vid=es6U00LMmC4&annotation_id=annotation_166462

Earthlings Documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce4DJh-L7Ys&feature=share

If you havent watched this yet, I recommend you do. It will open your eyes and heart to ideas and truths you may have never considered before.

Knowledge and truth can be hard, but they are beautiful in the way that change is beautiful. You are in control of yourself and your contribution to the world.

Healthy Snackin!

January 1st is right around the corner and I know a lot of people who want to improve their lives in a dietary sense. One of the hardest hurdles to overcome is working in your cube from 8-5pm and avoiding those unhealthy snacks that are always all around!

So you try to avoid those snacks and end up starving! Well thats not good either. You need to keep your body moving!

Here are some tips to keep you full, keep your metabolism going, and get you on the right track!

1. Drink 8-10 glasses of water throughout each day. Right when you wake up, drink a glass. (Think about it, you're body has been without any water in 8 hours!)

2. Eat a healthy breakfast every morning! If you start the day out right, your body will feel nourished and your brain will feel more awake.
-A cup of Quick Oats, oatmeal with a bit of cinnamin and a handful of raisons is a great example!
-Granola with some Almond milk is healthy and hearty!
-A nice fruit smoothie is refreshing!
*A trick is to get that Fiber to keep you full!

3. Prepare some snacks to bring to work with your lunchtime meal. Plan on snacking 4 times in the day, with your main meal in the mid-day. If you plan your snacks you will save money, save time, feel more organized, control your snacking, and keep yourself away from that wrethced vending machine!
SNACKS:
-Bananas, apples, pears, oranges, clemintines, cut grapefruit, watermellon, honeydue
-Celery and peanutbutter sticks
-nuts: almonds, peanuts, walnuts, cashews
-raisons, grapes, cranberries, strawberries, raspberries
-crackers
-Hummus (homemade with chickpeas!)
-olives
-carrots,
-Kale chips
-smoothies/protein shakes

4. Make sure you have a well balanced lunch. You should have some lean protein ( I suggest beans or nuts) a good amount of veggies (esp green leafys! They keep you fuller longer) some fruit, and some carb.

5. Take a good MultiVitamin. (I take this one and its great,because it gives me all my nutrients and doesnt make me feel sick like other vitamins have in the past!)

Those 5 tips should be enough to get you started. If it helps you to write down what you eat, do it! If it helps you to talk about it with your friends, do that too! Remember that you are strong, beautiful, and that you are the only one who controls what you intake into your body.

Keep it going!

Cooking of the Future!

http://blog.ted.com/2011/12/15/cooking-as-alchemy-homaro-cantu-ben-roche-on-ted-com/

This TED video really amazed me.

The tuna part is extremely interesting!

Lecture on how Humans eat and Veganism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xWD1Zze5Qo4


Seriously check this out. It is about 45 mins long, but worth every second. Some of the things this woman speaks about taught me more than I could ever imagine. Some of the things she says, I simply never considered before. I consider myself much less ignorant about the food I eat, after watching this video.

(If you dont have 45 min straight to watch it, listen to it in bits and pieces.)

Vegetarianism and the Bible

I'm not the most religious person. That is to say, I don't practice one specific religion, but rather try to focus my energy in positive ways throughout the world. In my opinion, most religions seem to hold the same views: be a good person and good things will follow.

But to all you practicing Bible lovers, I found this really interesting site that shows exerts from the bible that display some insight into how vegetarianism played a role throughout those times.

Check it out!

Let me know what you think about it.

Vegan Beer/Wine/Liquor

Something you might not think about: Is my beer/wine/liquor vegan friendly?

Some alcoholic beverages actually do contain animal products or animal bi-products, so nope, not all of them are.

I found this nifty website that lists your favorite beverages in Alphabetical order to make it easy to see if your beer/wine/liquor is indeed vegan friendly!

Check it out!

Comment your favorite drinks and weather you were surprised to find them vegan friendly/ non vegan friendly.

Researching the Master Cleanse Diet

I plan on purchasing the book for The Master Cleanse, but in the meantime, this website is pretty nifty: http://themastercleanse.org/

I decided that Beginning January 1st, I will begin my Master Cleanse (or "The Lemonade Diet" ) program. The website recommends you "ease" into the diet by allowing your body to adjust to natural, non processed foods, and then liquid foods, to juice, and finally into the "Lemonade" mixture.

This easing takes about 4 to 5 days, and then you can officially begin your ten day cleanse. Some have been known to carry out the cleanse to 40 days! This may seem extreme since the cleanse itself involves drinking 6 to 12 glasses of a "Lemonade" mixture of Water, organic lemon juice, organic maple syrup, and a dash of cayenne pepper, however, this mixture has been known to provide your body with all the nutrients it needs to energize and nurish your body, while allowing your body to rid itself of toxins and impurities. The diet also involves drinking a salt-water mixture in the morning, to cleanse your entire digestive track, and a detox tea at night.

This video is just one example of a woman who did the Master Cleanse for 15 days. She is a little wordy, but she has a great accent, and she explains what she felt like, and shows a before and after of results. Big Difference! Check it out and let me know what you think!

30 day Vegan Challenge

It is almost Christmas, and the holiday season has brought many exciting moments into my life, as well as many exciting cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, chocolate... you get the idea. It is difficult to control your cravings for junk food around this time of year, but prior to this week I had been going to the gym Monday through Friday, and had been very conscious of what I was putting in my body.

I have accepted that the last two weeks of December can be my "lazy" weeks, and that although I want to be conscious of what I eat, I am not going to freak out about being super strict.

This is because starting January 1st, 2012, I am going to be beginning a challenge I have always wanted to do: The 30 Day Vegan Challenge.

I have been a Vegetarian since before the Thanksgiving of 2008, but have always been interested in seeing what it would feel like to try a diet without any animal products or animal bi-products. Due to recent deep discussions on the health factors as well as environmental and moral benefits of Veganism, I have decided to try a 30 day trial of Vegan living.

Just as before I began my Vegetarian lifestyle, I have been doing a TON of research on the Vegan lifestyle. This includes learning about studies such as The China Study, listening to lectures by nutritionists, finding recipes that are well balanced, and discussing benefits and disadvantages to the diet itself. I want to be well informed and prepared before I jump into this.

My goal here is to feel healthier, lose some excess weight, and to blog/write about this journey daily.

My plan is to begin the first ten days of January with a full body cleanse. I am currently debating about either doing a fruit cleanse, which I have done in the past, or committing to the Master Cleanse- which is known to be an effective, yet challenging way to begin a lifestyle change and completely cleanse your body of toxins.

I will not be consuming alcohol, caffeine, or any substances during this cleanse, as it would thwart the cleansing process.

If you have any tips for Cleansing or beginning a Vegan diet, feel free to comment and help me out! Videos, tutorials and studies are all welcome!

Thank you and I hope you will follow me on my journey!