Author Archives: Vegetarians of Washington

Lupus can be treated with a plant-based diet

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A plant-based diet can help treat Lupus. Systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE for short, affects up to 322,000 adults in the United States, the vast majority of whom are women. It’s an autoimmune disease, but unlike other autoimmune diseases it targets a variety of organs and can cause a wide variety of symptoms. Genetic predisposition, environmental factors and hormones interplay in SLE disease development and activity. Lupus definitely comes under the heading of a difficult-to-treat disease.

The symptoms of lupus are bad enough, but there are also some diseases that often come along with it. In one study, people with SLE were found to have a two to three times the risk of heart attack and stroke. Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in SLE patients. One reason is that atherosclerosis is accelerated in SLE patients. Their arteries lay down plaque faster than others, so they develop cardiovascular disease faster. Over half of people with SLE have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and are obese. Complicating matters even more is that people with SLE are more likely to have prediabetes and chronic kidney disease. The medications used to treat SLE can have very significant side effects which can cause even more problems. People with lupus have a lot of problems going on at once, especially during a flare up.

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Plant-based diet beats Keto

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The evidence is in. Yet, another study shows that the plant-based diet is best for the environment when it comes to global warming. Producing the food for a plant-based diet causes less global warming than any other diet. This study specifically compared the plant-based or vegan diet to the vegetarian diet, the standard American diet, the Paleo and the Keto diets.

To understand the results of the latest study we need to get technical for a minute. The way to say how much greenhouse gas is emitted in any “farm to your dinner table” diet is to measure it in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents for every 1,000 Calories. The lower the number the less greenhouse gas is emitted. The lower the number the better for the environment. Here’s how the different diets stack up.  The plant-based, or vegan diet, comes out as having the least greenhouse at 0.69. Next comes the vegetarian diet at 1.66. Then it gets much worse. The typical American meat centered diet hits the environment at 2.23 But the worst diets, in terms of global warming, were the Paleo diet at 2.62 and last place goes to the Keto at 2.91.

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Vegan cheeses – options abound

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Selection of packets of vegan cheese brands.

One of the foods that non-vegans most often say they could never give up is cheese, made from cow’s milk.  But these days, there are so many great vegan cheeses to choose from, the only real reason not to make the switch is “I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

Vegan cheeses can be made from many different ingredients.  Coconut oil is a common ingredient which helps to mimic the texture and meltiness of animal-derived cheese.  Cashew nuts or other nuts or seeds can also be used to provide a rich creamy texture. Other ingredients might include thickening agents such as corn starch, potato starch or tapioca. Protein powder from chickpeas or peas might be added, along with a plant-based oil. Acidifiers like lemon juice can give a vegan cheese a tangy flavor, and seasonings such as salt, onion, garlic, nutritional yeast, and herbs can be added to get the flavor just right.

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Nutritional Yeast – the not-so-secret ingredient

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When you decide to move toward a plant-based diet, sooner or later you’re going to discover Nutritional Yeast.  This denatured yeast will not enable your bread to rise, but will add a nutty, cheese-like flavor to meals and snacks, and packs a nutritional punch. 

It comes in the form of golden flakes or a yellow powder, and in just 5g (1 teaspoon) you get 3g protein, and 1g of fiber. It also includes iron, potassium and some antioxidants, plus it’s often fortified with B vitamins including B12. It’s available in packets, shaker jars, or from bulk bins in most grocery stores.

It’s easy to sprinkle on popcorn, oatmeal, cooked vegetables or any other food, with a flavor similar to Parmesan cheese. It can also be added as a thickener to soups and sauces, providing more nutrition than conventional white flour.

Here are some easy recipes to help you easily replace conventional cheese dishes at home:

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Fast food begins to save animals

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Two baby pigs nuzzling each other

Fast food restaurants are finally beginning to save some animals as they’ve taken up plant-based meat products on their menus – and the effect is massive. Restaurant chains’ use of meat alternatives in 2021 saved the equivalent of more than 700,000 animals lives – 212,000 pigs, 92,000 cows and 405,000 chickens, according to new research from World Animal Protection, a global animal welfare nonprofit organization,

Many in the veg and animal communities have been saying for a long time that saving the animals begins in your kitchen. Well now it begins in your fast food restaurant’s kitchen too. This is more than we could have even hoped for just a few years ago. All those veggie burgers and “chicken” nuggets are having a big effect on the animals.

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Oscars’ Party boosts vegan options

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As Hollywood steps up efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, the Oscars’ big Governor’s Ball event will be going greener with an (almost) vegan menu.  The chef, Wolfgang Puck, says the menu will be 70% plant-based this year, including the desserts.  The organizers are pushing for a largely vegan menu at the post-Oscars party, which will cater for around 1500 people, although there will still be caviar, smoked salmon and Japanese beef for the non-vegans.

“We want everybody to be happy,” Puck told journalists during a tour of his kitchen where he was prepping for the extravaganza. “At the end of the day you can make vegan food taste really good and you won’t miss meat or fish.”

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First female Indian vegan climbs Mt Everest

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In May 2022, Prakriti Varshney became the first female Indian vegan (possibly the first female vegan worldwide) to successfully scale Mount Everest. She has since scaled three of the highest mountains in Africa, and aims to climb nine more in various countries this year.

Twenty-six year old Prakriti had been vegan for more than five years before starting this climb.  She originally embraced the vegan lifestyle after learning about the impact of the dairy industry on the environment and the animals themselves.  She volunteers with an animal rescue nonprofit and uses social media to encourage people to take care of animals. She brought her sustainability concerns with her during her Everest expedition by being very conscious of what she left behind on the mountain. She was shocked by the amount of garbage left behind by other climbers.

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Sperm counts decline drastically

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Men are producing a lot less sperm. There has been a drastic drop in the number of sperm produced by men in recent years, and it’s getting worse.

Overall, there is a significant worldwide decline of more than 50% in sperm counts in the past 46 years, a decline that has accelerated in recent years. Sperm count declines among men in America and Canada have accelerated in the last five years, and this reflects a crisis related to our modern environment and lifestyle, including diet, with broad implications for the survival of the human species.

Eating a big fat steak may not be so manly after all! A 2017 study found that red and processed meat like steak, bacon, and cold cuts lowers sperm count and mobility. Another study found that high-fat dairy products like whole milk, ice cream, and cheese were associated with lower sperm mobility and abnormal shape.

Researchers, who studied men ages 18 to 20, found that those who followed a vegetarian diet had higher sperm counts — 25.6 million more per ejaculate, to be exact.

Switching to a healthy vegan diet rich in fruit, vegetables, and whole grains while young could help prevent fertility issues later in life. Men on a Western diet had lower levels of the chemical inhibin-B, which may signal damage to sperm-producing Sertoli cells.

The message is clear: a plant-based diet helps men produce more and healthier sperm.  It also helps with other aspects of men’s health such as testosterone levels and erectile dysfunction.

LinkedIn café offers plant-based by default

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The headquarters building of LinkedIn, based in San Francisco, has converted their employee café to be plant-based by default.  The company was looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint, and the food they served in their cafeterias provided them with a big opportunity to make a difference. Working with an organization called “Greener by Default” alongside their catering partner, Sodexo-owned Good Eating Company, they were able to gradually move to a 65% plant-based menu and the replacement of cows’ milk with oat milk as the default.

Although they still serve meat dishes, these are limited in number, and they only serve the most carbon-intensive options such as beef or lamb, in one dish per week.  They have worked to create vegan versions of the most popular meat dishes in the café, so that diners will likely choose the most climate-friendly options.  As they made the transition to offering more plant-based options, they carried out regular surveys of the diners to see how they felt about the new choices that were being offered.  As the feedback received was positive, they were able to make more changes over a three-month trial period, and ended with having switched the ratio of foods from five meat meals to three plant-based meals to five plant-based meals and three meat-based at each meal. Other LinkedIn offices will now start working on the same menu transformation.

“When a corporate trendsetter like LinkedIn shows that people are happy to choose plant-based foods when they’re accessible and appealing, it’s a huge leap forward towards a more sustainable food culture,” said Katie Cantrell, CEO of Greener by Default.  Greener by Default works with a range of clients including healthcare facilities, universities, restaurants and more.  They include Harvard University, Stanford Medicine and a global soap manufacturer Dr Bronner, as happy clients alongside LinkedIn.  They present plant-based food as being more sustainable, cost-effective and inclusive. Clients note that by making plant-based meals the default, they also increase the healthfulness of their meals.  They seem to have hit on a winning formula to help businesses make a significant switch to their cafeteria options.

Custom-exempt cruelty

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We’ve often talked about the abuse and the cruelty to farm animals at the nation’s mainstream slaughterhouses, but we haven’t talked much about the custom-exempt slaughterhouses. A custom-exempt slaughter facility is a slaughter facility that does not have a state or federal inspector on duty, which means that the meats from these facilities are not considered state or federally-inspected meats. Custom-exempt plants serve hunters who want to process wild animal carcasses; they also slaughter cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats for anyone who wants meat for themselves, their household, or nonpaying guests. The “exempt” signifies that these operations are excused from continuous inspection, unlike facilities subject to state and federal inspection where government officials are on the premises whenever slaughter is being conducted.

A petition delivered to the USDA recently on behalf of the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) reported that the US Department of Agriculture consistently fails to review and respond to animal welfare violations at custom-exempt slaughter facilities, resulting in animals being beaten, held in deplorable conditions, and deprived of food and water for extended periods.

Dena Jones – Animal Welfare Institute

“AWI is unfortunately accustomed to uncovering and witnessing the most egregious forms of animal abuse; the treatment of custom slaughtered farm animals surely ranks among the worst,” said Dena Jones, AWI’s farm animal program director.

It calls on the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to thoroughly revise its directive pertaining to custom-exempt slaughter to better protect animals, avoid misleading the public, report suspected animal cruelty to state authorities, and close loopholes that allow facilities suspended for egregious humane handling violations to continue slaughtering animals under their custom status, among other recommendations.

Back in 2009, the FSIS instructed its personnel to apply the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act  (HMSA), which requires the humane treatment and handling of certain food animals at slaughter, to custom-exempt slaughter facilities. Despite that directive and two subsequent revisions, the AWI report concludes that the “FSIS does not apply the HMSA to custom-exempt slaughter in any meaningful way.”

Let’s hope that the FSIS take action on this critical gap in their oversight of these facilities.

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