Calling all vegans 🍆🥕

Good morning everyone, there is a lot of interest in all things vegan and Veganuary demonstrated this and as we have many vegan members I'd like to bring to your attention the HU group "Vegan Foods for Life" which is a small group with only 175 members when HE is growing by this number every week.

To me this is exciting as we're in at the beginning, I am taking on admin andyswarbs and benwl are volunteers and as you all know they are very knowledgable about many aspects of vegan living. And another vegan is hopefully joining us soon as admin.

I'd like to encourage good links with other HU sites and HE in particular as VFfL is for all things vegan, so if anyone who is a vegan or has a healthy interest in veganism then please feel free to join us.

Thank you,

Jerry. 😊

healthunlocked.com/veganfoo...

[Hidden]

i have just pressed the like button Jerry, please consider it as the mother of all likes 😊

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thank you happycook that is much appreciated. 😊

[mdr1000]

Hiya, if I decide to veganise myself, I'll definitely join.

I'm doing a bit of research about it tonight. I want to be paleo-vegan if I can work out a way how.

I think the gain industry is as unethical as the meat industry.

[benwl in reply to mdr1000]

I'm sure it can be done - but they keep finding evidence that our species ate grains earlier and earlier in our history. So you might not actually need to give them up to get closer to an ancestoral diet.

[mdr1000 in reply to benwl]

O hi, thanks for your reply, it's not that I'm trying to copy, grains make me feel like I'm having mild heart attack symptoms, which is a shame, I'd love to have baked goods.

The word 'convenience' takes on a whole new meaning when things like that happen otherwise I'd probably be vegan by now.

Similarly dairy products make me feel poorly and so I don't have them either.

I was already virtually paleo because of these things before I knew what paleo was.

I do see grains and their production as a problem for the planet, similar to the meat industry but that's another discussion altogether, haha.

[benwl in reply to mdr1000]

Thats a very good reason not to eat them

I've not looked into the ethics and resource usage of grain production, I will try and do so - thanks

[mdr1000 in reply to benwl]

Well for me it's just the pretty massive area covered by just one species of plant that I feel is wrong. It seems a bit destructive of biodiversity.

I've given an example of wheat before, which is originally, without domestication, native of one valley in modern day Syria but now covers an area of the planet which is 6 times bigger than the uk.

Its the same as animal farming for me, they're both wrong, the degree to which is wrong-er is debatable. I want nothing to do with either, hence paleo-vegan. It's just whether I could maintain the level of organisation it'd need...

[benwl in reply to mdr1000]

I admire your willingness to try and live according to your beliefs.

As you say, it is a matter of degree, whilst loss of biodiversity is bad and no-one wants the see the whole world covered by a single crop, I'm struggling to see domestication of plant species and their propogation to be inherantly wrong.

[Hidden in reply to benwl]

Older varieties were far more nutritious back in the day than the modern cheaply mass produced, wheat deficient in the health-protecting nutrients and also harmful to people who have certain GI issues and people without. When the large industry tampers nature for efficiency and quick turnover, it's the humans, who ultimately pay the price by getting sick, eating the modified, fast growing variety. This is one of the reasons why autoimmuners don't touch modern wheat products and eat the products made from ancient varieties and using the old methods.

[benwl in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, that clarifies a lot, I was trying to understand if the issue was with domestication of plants per se - but sounds like the problem is more specific to the changes that have happened very recently (say in the last 70 years)

[Zest]

Hi Jerry,

Wow, another very smiley array of Delicious Vegetables, and it's great to hear that the Health Unlocked forum called 'Vegan Foods for Life' is going to be injected with lots of enthusiastic and lovely Admins and Volunteers. I shall certainly have a look at the forum for some nice recipe ideas.

I hope that people will continue to also pop in this Healthy eating forum too. I love the array of great forums available in Health Unlocked - they are growing all the time.

Wishing andyswarbs , benwl and you, Hidden , plus the other volunteers and Admins all the best with that new forum.

Zest

[Hidden in reply to Zest]

Hi Zest, thanks ever so much and I think that both communities compliment one another as VFL supports all aspects of vegan living.

I agree that HU have some great forums which I am pleased to be a member of.

And I thought that I'd post vegan recipes on VFL and HE and Debs (kitten-whiskers) is admin with me. 😊

[Zest in reply to Hidden]

Excellent, and Congratualtions to Kitten-whiskers too - she has already helped me out with some great recipes - in particular the Jamaican spiced Banana Bread - so lovely!

[suestevens94]

jerry joined your group sometime ago just read all the posting have replied to zest a couple of times your community has got me through hard times i just laughed and smiled at you veggie smiley face

thankyou

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to suestevens94]

Have you checked out the free leaflets on the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation's website ( drwf.org.uk/understanding-d... ), suestevens94 ? There's a leaflet that is dealing with " Eating Healthy and Diabetes". All leaflets are free for download, read and/or listen to at anytime. I hope this helps.

[Hidden]

Hi Sue, we all go through hard times and you were diagnosed type 2 less than a year ago so you've obviously a lot going on so I'm glad that you liked the smiley face, so thanks for saying that.

And good luck to you. 😊

[Hidden]

I'm certainly no activist but I make More vegan choices these days. I've seen those films on NetFlix and don't eat meat now. "Forks Over Knives" alerted me to the health benefits of a plant based diet and my husband is living proof that better choices improve health. It's easier to follow a vegan diet than a whole vegan lifestyle change but every little helps! I'll be truthful and say I miss eggs and fish too much to change completely but make better purchases from local farmers and sustainable fish sources. Good luck tho with making others change old habits. Wake up to meat free at least!