Posts Tagged ‘diet’

New “Vegetarian Eating” Book From Staci Marquez-Nichols

February 5th, 2010
vegetarian lasagna yum!

In today’s meat-obsessed world, it’s not easy eating plants but a newly released book from Life Tips, Inc can help. So often seasoned vegetarians settle into an eating routine that may not be satisfying all of their needs… enter Staci Marquez-Nichols to the rescue.

Her book “101 Vegetarian Eating & Living Tips” provides info and insights veteran and newbie vegetarians alike can use to enjoy a smart and healthy vegetarian lifestyle – including ammunition you can use against veggie naysayers.

There are a ton of vegetarian cookbooks and books criticizing the meat industry available, says author Staci, but surprisingly few resources on how to make a meat-free diet work. This is what makes ‘101 Vegetarian Eating & Living Tips’ so indispensable. There are a lot of long-term vegetarians who don’t know what a complete protein is or how to combine their foods to form them. There are a lot of veteran vegetarians who don’t know that processed soy–i.e. fake meat–is really bad for you. I explore all of these things in my book.

“101 Vegetarian Eating & Living Tips” provides readers with humorous, real-world and engaging insights every vegetarian can use.

Tips and trivia include:

  • Detailed vegetarian food groups (It’s more than nuts and berries!)
  • The body’s vitamin and nutrient requirements and how to meet them
  • The environmental impact of a vegetarian diet vs. the Standard American Diet
  • How to deal with meat cravings
  • Veggie-friendly fast food finds
  • A list of famous vegetarians and vegans
  • Thought-provoking quotes on vegetarianism from everyone from Albert Einstein to Leonardo da Vinci
  • Specific chapters for vegetarian athletes, vegetarian kids, pregnant vegetarians, traveling vegetarians, and more

“101 Vegetarian Eating & Living Tips” is available from Amazon.com (where it has already earned a 5-star rating) for less than $10.

You can also check out Staci’s website, VegetarianTips.net.

Top 10 Vegetarian Sources of Calcium

July 30th, 2009

We’ve been getting questions about what the best vegetarians sources of calcium and vitamin C are.  Well, ask and ye shall receive — without further ado here’s list number one to help you in your quest for better nutrition.

Top 10 Vegetarian Sources of Calcium

  1. Kidney Beans (1 cup has 263 mg of calcium)
  2. Black Beans (1 cup has 239 mg)
  3. Sesame Butter (1 tablespoon has 154 mg)
  4. Tofu (1/2 cup has 125 mg)
  5. Almonds (1 oz. has 81.5 mg)
  6. Arugula (1 oz. has 44.8 mg)
  7. Kelp (1 oz. has 47.0 mg)
  8. Brazil Nuts (1 oz. has 44.8 mg)
  9. Spinach (1 oz. has 42.8 mg)
  10. Chinese Cabbage (1 oz. has 26.0 mg)

It’s really easy to get way more than your daily allowance of Vitamin C with a typical vegetarian diet. Calcium is a bit more challenging, but there’s still a lot of good sources.

The 411 on Calcium

Now that you know WHERE to get it, what is the deal with this mineral? Why do we need it? Well, Calcium is good for strong bone health, healthy muscles, pearly whites, a healthy heart, blood clotting, normal nervous system activity, helps regulate many body functions and some say this dynamite mineral is even good for losing weight. (via MSNBC)

And we need on average 1,000 mg of calcium daily.

Supplements?

I would really like to hear from any readers who are taking a Calcium supplement or pill to make up for any loss. Please share with us below in the comment area.

A big thanks to NutritionData.com for the great nutritional information, and also thanks to TofuForTwo.net for the rocking black bean soup image.

Now stay tuned for our next article, which will cover the top 10 vegetarian sources of Vitamin C, you can follow on Twitter to get our updates.

Whole Grains — What’s the Big Deal?

June 12th, 2009

When you go to the health food store your eyes are assailed with advertisements for whole grain products. Many wonder — what’s the big deal?

A reader wrote in:
Do you know if whole grain oat cereals are the same, better, or worse than just plain oat bran?

To answer this question and get to the bottom of whole grains, I went straight to a prestigious medical source — the Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic has a whole page dedicated to just how great whole grains are and why you should add more to your diet.

wild-rice

image via tvol on flickr

First a definition — whole grains are any grains that haven’t had their brand or germ removed by milling. Sometimes bran or the germ are sold alone, but these do not provide the complete benefits of whole grains.

While all grains are low in fat, good sources of complex carbohydrates, and full of vitamins and minerals, refined grains cut out the nutrient-rich bran and germ. The bran contains extra fiber, essential to digestive health and the germ contains selenium, potassium, magnesium, and other vital vitamins and minerals.

Even if you know how good they are for you, it can be confusing to identify whole grains.

Sources of Whole Grains

Did you know white rice is not a whole grain? But wild riceis!

Couscous, corn flakes, enriched pasta, grits, white rice, and white bread are among the popular foods that use refined grains — avoid these. Brown rice, wild rice, whole wheat (or rice) pasta, bulgur, buckwheat, millet, oatmeal, popcorn, and whole wheat bread all contain whole grains — pick these instead.

Eat lots of whole grains — it’s an easy way to improve your diet and your health!  And try to buy organic grains to avoid unhealthy pesticides and herbicides.

(A special thanks to the Mayo Clinic for its excellent and informative page on whole grains!)