Vegetarian & Vegan Food and Lifestyle

WillowMarie

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I try to eat vegan, although it is more like limited to no processed food or foods with added sugar. Which is almost everything not in the produce section, haha. My body is very sensitive to things, and after eating something processed or restaurant/fast food I feel sleepy, brain foggy, and can get a headache. Wondering if I may have a sensitivity to some oils, too, because I feel crappy after eating potato chips which only ingredients are potatoes, salt, and oil. After eating clean, I've also stopped taking my daily asthma maintenance medication and have had no asthma symptoms since cleaning up my diet. Sometimes if my diet has been crappy for a week or two, there may be a little wheezing that starts, so I truly believe something in the food affects my asthma symptoms. Wonder if cutting out the dairy was the main thing that helped my asthma.

I try to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, cooked veggies, rice, pasta, beans, nuts, and tofu. I do eat flour tortilla wraps, despite the wraps being processed. Sometimes I do buy parmesean cheese to have with my pasta.

My body feels a lot better, my head clearer, and my emotions much more stable when processed and sugar added foods are eliminated from my diet. This has been my motivation to continue.

Any other tofu recipes you could recommend?
Not sure if you've tried this, but my favorite way to cook tofu is buying the extra firm, cutting the brick into 5 slices, and putting olive oil in a cooking pan on higher heat and cooking until there is some coler on both sides. I cut the pieces in half and put in a flour tortilla with Primal Kitchens Chipotle Lime Mayo. Heating the flour tortillas with olive oil in the pan adds extra flavor and texture, but sometimes I just heat them in the microwave. The mayo is soooooo tasty and flavorful! There is NO added sugar like regular mayonnaise, and also is very limited in easy to read ingredients (Avocado Oil, Organic Eggs, Organic Egg Yolks, Organic Vinegar, Water, Sea Salt, Organic Lime Juice Concentrate, Chipotle Powder, Lime Granules, Organic Garlic Powder, Organic Rosemary Extract). It is a bit pricey, but very worth it for me because basically all other sauces have added sugar, and it tastes so good. My local Food Lion just had them on sale for $7, so I stocked up, haha. Highly recommend. Makes veggie wraps taste great, too!
 

Willowy

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Ummmm. . .from what I can find, "cruelty-free" doesn't necessarily mean vegan. It means it wasn't tested on animals, but it may still have animal-derived ingredients like collagen or gelatin. So you'd still have to check the label.
 

rubysmama

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How far do you guys go? Like I'm sitting here wondering if my new winter boots have any leather or other animal products in them. I have no idea what they are made of.
I'm vegetarian, and still eat eggs and dairy products like cheese and yogurt, and ice cream. I rarely use cow's milk though, and put an organic soymilk on my cereal.

I do consciously avoid leather products, and gave away my leather jacket when I became vegetarian. Also gave away a leather purse I received as a gift, as I couldn't justify using it. And I don't wear leather gloves.

However, I do still buy leather shoes and boots, as I have feet that sweat easily, and when I've worn non-leather footwear I've literally been able to wring water out of my socks at the end of the day, which I did not think was good for my feet.

Wool makes me itch, so I don't have any wool sweaters. Nor cashmere.

I don't buy honey either, though partly because I don't really care for it.

I'm not as conscious about checking beauty products for animal free/cruelty free ones, as I should be. :sigh:


Not sure if you've tried this, but my favorite way to cook tofu is buying the extra firm, cutting the brick into 5 slices, and putting olive oil in a cooking pan on higher heat and cooking until there is some coler on both sides. I cut the pieces in half and put in a flour tortilla with Primal Kitchens Chipotle Lime Mayo. Heating the flour tortillas with olive oil in the pan adds extra flavor and texture, but sometimes I just heat them in the microwave. The mayo is soooooo tasty and flavorful! There is NO added sugar like regular mayonnaise, and also is very limited in easy to read ingredients (Avocado Oil, Organic Eggs, Organic Egg Yolks, Organic Vinegar, Water, Sea Salt, Organic Lime Juice Concentrate, Chipotle Powder, Lime Granules, Organic Garlic Powder, Organic Rosemary Extract). It is a bit pricey, but very worth it for me because basically all other sauces have added sugar, and it tastes so good. My local Food Lion just had them on sale for $7, so I stocked up, haha. Highly recommend. Makes veggie wraps taste great, too!
Thanks. Sounds interesting.

Thanks. Does cruelty free mean vegetarian?
I think it means not tested on animals.

Hmmm... was about to say that The Body Shop had cruelty free products, but Googled and read the below. :mad:
"The Body Shop is a popular vegetarian British cosmetics, skincare and fragrance brand offered in 66 countries. The brand was known as a 100% cruelty-free, privately owned brand until it was acquired by L'Oreal in 2006, a parent company that is not cruelty-free"
 

denice

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Cruelty free products aren't as plentiful as they used to be. China requires animal testing on imported beauty products and companies can't resist that big market. I know for hair products Paul Mitchell is cruelty free. They have vowed to not go into the Chinese market until they drop the requirement for animal testing.
 

WillowMarie

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I've often thought about making my own deodorant or shampoo. Has anyone tried any recipes that worked for them? I was always interested because it was a way to control the ingredients. Although, if looking for creulty-free, you may have to look at each individual ingredient to know how it was made, etc.
 

Norachan

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How far do you guys go? Like I'm sitting here wondering if my new winter boots have any leather or other animal products in them. I have no idea what they are made of
I was having a conversation with my sister about this the other day. We're both vegetarian and try to avoid leather and other by-products. However, fake leather and down are made from man-made fibers that use a lot of oil, water and fuel to produce and never bio-degrade, so they're adding to the pollution problem. At least leather and other animal derived products will break down eventually. It's a tough one, I'm not sure which is worse.

:dunno:

I'm just trying to be a frugal as possible, not buy things unless I really need them, repair rather than recycle and recycle rather than throw away.

Have you tried Kneipp products? They're vegan, plant based and cruelty free.

Kneipp Plant-Based Bath and Body Care | Kneipp
 

Columbine

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Ummmm. . .from what I can find, "cruelty-free" doesn't necessarily mean vegan. It means it wasn't tested on animals, but it may still have animal-derived ingredients like collagen or gelatin. So you'd still have to check the label.
I didn't say it meant vegan, just vegetarian. I forgot about animal derived ingredients though :paperbag: But choosing to at least buy products not tested on animals (ie cruelty free) is definitely a step up from ones that were.

My view is that we should all do the best we can to avoid causing harm. If budgets are really tight, that may mean cruelty free and checking labels for animal ingredients. I know that vegan certified products are available at a low-mid price point, but even that isn't always affordable. So, products labelled cruelty free or not tested on animals are (imo) better than ones that are actively tested on animals.
 

Willow's Mom

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I've often thought about making my own deodorant or shampoo. Has anyone tried any recipes that worked for them?
I don't know how "crunchy" you want to go, but I've had good luck with "no-poo": I use 1 tsp of baking soda mixed with a pint of water to cleanse my hair, which isn't oily enough to foam up unless I've done a deep oil treatment, but it definitely feels "soapy" when I massage my scalp.

You absolutely HAVE to follow that with a final rinse of 1 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar in a pint of water to restore the Ph balance, especially if you wear your hair long. This can be drying, so you would want to rub a bit of coconut oil between your palms and run it through your hair from time to time.

Or we could totally geek out and start talking about jojoba oil and other alternatives to commercial shampoos and conditioners; I wouldn't mind one bit if that's the way you roll.

< warm smiles >

Different things I've tried for deoderant over the years that might work for you:
deoderant stone
baking soda and coconut oil
soap and water at abnormally frequent intervals

I've been vegetarian since I was 8 and was vegan since my child was diagnosed with a dairy allergy in 1992 until I made the conscious decision to become responsible for an obligate carnivore. I have been teased, bullied, starved, and downright abused for my ethics but have never before in my life denied them or tried to hide them. I only fed my cats kibble and mailed off checks to Vegecat and Wysong when I saw ads in the backs of my magazines for vegetarian and vegan cat foods.

I'm not vegan. I am responsible for a cat. I was under the mistaken impression that since dogs are non-obligate carnivores, I could just pick up a bag of vegan dog food at the store and buy the most catlike dog I could afford, but it didn't quite work out that way.

I love vegan food and eat it every chance I get but my favourite flavour of meat is raw and in my pets' food bowls. I also enjoy eggs when they are gifted to me because the shells can be ground up for a calcium supplement for my doggies instead of bone, and of course they can eat the whites even though Willow can't. I use cheese for training treats and yogurt for priobiotics, but I haven't figured out what to do with cow's milk yet so I would just say, "No, thank you." and/or leave it in the dumpster for the next freegan, depending on the circumstances.
 

WillowMarie

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I don't know how "crunchy" you want to go, but I've had good luck with "no-poo": I use 1 tsp of baking soda mixed with a pint of water to cleanse my hair, which isn't oily enough to foam up unless I've done a deep oil treatment, but it definitely feels "soapy" when I massage my scalp.

You absolutely HAVE to follow that with a final rinse of 1 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar in a pint of water to restore the Ph balance, especially if you wear your hair long. This can be drying, so you would want to rub a bit of coconut oil between your palms and run it through your hair from time to time.

Or we could totally geek out and start talking about jojoba oil and other alternatives to commercial shampoos and conditioners; I wouldn't mind one bit if that's the way you roll.

< warm smiles >

Different things I've tried for deoderant over the years that might work for you:
deoderant stone
baking soda and coconut oil
soap and water at abnormally frequent intervals
Great, thanks! I've read about the deodorant stones! I did try deodorant free for a while and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be once my diet cleaned up and just went into the bathroom before classes (started sweating on the way to class) to wipe my pits with water on a paper towel. Before when forgetting deodorant, I stunk so bad! But once eating more whole foods without additives, it made a big difference in my B.O. scent! But then I started eating a bit more processed and started wearing some again, but ones more "natural".

Think I'll try the baking soda with apple cider vinegar. My hair tends to be on the oilier side, so maybe that it is drying may be better for my hair type.

Thanks for the tips!
 

maggiedemi

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Has anyone else experienced hair loss when going vegetarian? :(
It will kill me to have to eat meat again, but I'm pretty vain and I need my hair. :sigh:
 

Willow's Mom

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Oh, is that still all over Facebook? Do they still ask you if you've ever heard of Weston A Price with that simperingly condescending look on their faces?

I'm a hair geek too. It would be snow white and down to my knees if I had the power to design my own body. I'm a bit unclear on your age, but what I found out during my stay at The Long Hair Community and my own research is that age related hair loss cannot be reversed and it is genetic, just like what the dudes get.

Yuck.

I'm post-menopausal. I could eat nothing but feeder rats and raw beef with EZcomplete sprinkled on it and my alopecia wouldn't care. That's why you see so many women cutting off their hair when they turn 30 or 40 or whatever. Usually nobody but the owner of the hair even notices the alopecia because it is gradual and so devastating when you're living through it.

I decided that I don't care enough about strangers to cut off part of myself to fit in. The positives is that I actually did get my hair to finally grow long enough that I could sit on it, but it was only one hair so it didn't take anywhere near as long to care for as the thick mane I used to have in my childbearing years. :flail:

Hair and teeth are the only things I was ever vain about, so you are absolutely not alone. Of course we can buy both of those things but wigs and dentures aren't part of our bodies! My grandmother did wind up going that route, the wigs looked fake and ridiculous, and she had the same attitude that I have about my dear departed single strand of hair that finally grew all the way down to my butt before it finally fell out or got broken off.

:flail: :lol: :flail:
 
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betsygee

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Has anyone else experienced hair loss when going vegetarian? :(
It will kill me to have to eat meat again, but I'm pretty vain and I need my hair. :sigh:
I've been a vegetarian for over 30 years and never had a problem with my hair.

I have seen some articles saying that if the diet isn't balanced, it can cause hair loss. Here's one:

Can a vegetarian diet cause hair loss? | Hair Loss:
Yes a vegetarian diet can cause hair loss if it is not planned properly. Vegetarians consume primarily plant-based foods, but may also include animal-based foods as well. There are different degrees of vegetarianism to include:
  • Lacto (consumes plant-based foods and milk and dairy products)
  • Lacto-ovo (consumes plant-based foods and milk and dairy products and eggs)
  • Vegan (consumes plant-based products only)
The nutrient deficiencies that have been associated with hair loss include:
  • Protein
  • Iron
  • Zinc
  • Biotin
  • Vitamin D
Although these nutrients are found in plant-based foods, the best sources for many of these nutrients are animal-based.

Therefore a well-balanced vegetarian diet is required to prevent these nutritional deficiencies and the medical complications from those deficiencies. Many of these nutrients can be consumed in adequate amounts to prevent deficiency with proper meal planning and/or vitamin and mineral supplementation.
And everyone's body chemistry is different, too. I suppose different people could have different reactions to changes in diet.
 

maggiedemi

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I'm 44. My hair only started falling out when I went vegetarian a month ago. I don't eat any soy though. I could try getting some tofu and see if that helps. I take a multivitamin along with calcium/magnesium.
 

Willow's Mom

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I'm 44. My hair only started falling out when I went vegetarian a month ago. I don't eat any soy though. I could try getting some tofu and see if that helps. I take a multivitamin along with calcium/magnesium.
Soy was my best friend when I was 44. There's a lot of FUD about it. I read some articles on Veg Source that explained the anti-soy fad and decided to increase the soy in my diet during peri. It was the only thing that could put a dent in the anxiety, shakes, hot flashes, etc. I learned how to make my own soy drink and downed a quart or more a day if my kids didn't get into it first.
 

neely

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Has anyone else experienced hair loss when going vegetarian? :(
I've been vegetarian for over 10 years and if did not affect my hair at all. What did affect it was perimenopause which can start between the age of 45-55 years old. Perhaps you are close to that age category. :dunno:
 
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