January 2019 Chat

[shades]

Happy Hogmanay

Lang may yer lum reek!

[3piggles]

It's still 2018 here in the states. We're the last to change. Love the January picture, and Happy Hogmanay to you, too!

[Bean]

Happy 2019 everyone!

So January is going to be a vegetarian month for us (we couldn't get our heads round going vegan, which is the big one - Veganuary). My husband and I were vegetarian for years but have lapsed and in the last couple of years, have started eating meat more often. So we're hoping that it'll give us a kick to getting back to eating less meat, for various reasons - animal welfare, health and environmental. Let's hope I still love chick peas at the end of the month!

[shades]

I love chick peas but they're so hard to find around here at a reasonable price. I can buy a small imported tin in the wholesale market but it costs an arm and a leg

[3piggles]

Happy 2019, all

I love chic peas, and on sale, we can get them for 88 cent/can, which is a good buy over here. I used them for a lot of things, including just adding them to salads, marinating them and eating them as snacks.

Hubby is a carnivore, but I'm more open to different things. We had pasta one night last week. He had it with tomato sauce and meatballs, I had it in a dinner salad with beans for protein, and our granddaughter ate it was butter and parmesan cheese. I'm hoping to do more similar dinners, so he can add his meat, and I don't always have to.

We've greatly reduced the amount of red meat we eat, only have beef of any kind periodically, when it's on sale. Otherwise it's chicken or pork. I've also cut way back on the amount of meat per person per meal. We share a chicken breast, instead of eating one each.

Once I get Diane Kochilas's cookbook, I'll have a lot of Italian and Greek recipes I know he'll like, that have no meat at all. They also won't have spices I don't normally have or like.

[Bean]

Interesting about different foods varying so much in price! I pay about 35p for a can of chick peas. (I really like their nutty flavour, and the fact they hold their shape so well - some other pulses go mushy too easily.) I'm sure I pay far more for some of the stuff I buy for Chinese food than you, Shades! Even though I generally go to the Chinese supermarket rather than buying from supermarkets, which totally take the mickey.

[3piggles]

We are cable TV free. We started our Hulu subscription, and returned all of our cable boxes and remote controls. We kept the broadband through the cable company, as we need the internet for Roku and our computers. We have all the channels we want, and are saving about $70/mo. We'll get a prorated refund for the last few days of cable we already paid for, so those few dollars will be nice, too.

Nice trip up to the lakes region to return the cable items was really nice. We created a hill and saw the most beautiful scene of snow capped mountains. It is a beautiful area.

[Bean]

Sounds pretty! I was thinking we should schedule a nice family walk somewhere before the holidays end. (Of course, I would have that idea when the kids are off with their grandparents!)

[jolovespiggies]

happy new year to everyone from me with lots of love. I remember making a chickpea curry once and it was lovely but I do love my meat.

hugs jo xx

[Bean]

I love chick pea curry, it's one we have on rotation on our curry nights!

We're a way of repeating a dish, so no vegetarian boredom yet! We're actually really enjoying it and it's made us think about how many meat items had sneaked back into our diets as routine rather than a conscious choice. I don't think we'll go vegetarian after this, but we definitely feel like we'll be happy limiting meat to twice a week max, and making sure that meat is good quality (in terms of how the animal has lived, as well as what hormones/ antibiotics we subsequently ingest - we'd got a bit complacent about that too).

The only meal we might have to skip is toad in the hole as it's impossible to get veggie sausages without onion, wheat or soya, and I don't fancy making my own concoction to hold together in sausage form!

[jolovespiggies]

I wish I could be a vegetarian bean love I really do. the thought of eating animals disgusts me but when it is put in front of me, I eat it and enjoy it. I so wish I didn't. I used to make veggie curries but as an accompaniment to a meat dish. tonight we are having lasagne.

hugs jo xx

[3piggles]

I'm the same way, Jo. Instead of going vegan, though, I'm campaigning for better conditions for food animals. We are carnivores, omnivores, actually. We don't have the correct digestive system to be herbivores, which is one reason why vegans and vegetarians often have digestive problems. It may simply be indigestion/gas, but if we're putting the things into our digestive system that our digestive systems are capable of digesting, we shouldn't even get that. I also think most people have digestive problems, which obviously aren't resolved by continuing to eat the way they had been, but going whole hog the other way isn't a good option, either.

We need to be careful what we put in our digestive systems. We've changed so many foods from what we ate as hunter gatherers, and our digestive systems don't seem to have changed with it. I have no doubt that processed foods aren't helping, nor are sugars and salts, as we wouldn't have had those to start. I'm really trying to reduce my salt intake, as too much gives me terrible leg cramps, but reducing my sugar intake is much harder!

Your vegananauary seems to be going really well. You're finding all sorts or recipes you like, or are being reminded that you like them. You're eating less processed food, including meats, and hopefully, are feeling better

[Bean]

It's always good to have an excuse to shake up your diet - it's so easy to get in a routine with food, and great to be motivated to try new things.

I think of us as omnivores, and that our digestive systems have evolved to be adaptive to whatever food our particular environment provides. So some countries have a diet rich in fish and fat, others are mainly vegetarian, others eat a predominantly meat-based diet, others a total mix. Often, some cultures don't digest foods well (like lactose or alcohol) which historically haven't been consumed, so it shows our bodies can, and are designed to, adapt.

I hadn't heard of vegetarians and vegans having more digestive problems? It's not the case with the ones I know anyway. Fair enough people who eat a lot of fruit and veg will probably have a bit more wind, but that's often the sign of a happy gut, and of course not all vegetarians are healthy anyway!

I think if we reduce our demand for meat, we have a much better chance of improving the welfare of animals raised for meat. But if loads of people (and our population is only growing - both in number and also the size of individuals) are eating big slabs of meat every day, we need loads of animals grown super quickly, and that's why standards drop. Also if people choose cheap meat rather than paying more for outdoor reared animals, that's another message that it's okay to be lax about standards, yet most of us have done it when we're budgeting.

I also think the biggest threat to our digestion is crappy, processed food - lots of salt, fat and sugar, and using processes which remove loads of the nutrients. Studies have shown that in developed countries, our microbiome is about half as diverse as that of people who are eating more natural diets, regardless of whether that diet is plant or meat based. That means we probably feel much worse generally and also don't fight disease as well. There's more and more research coming out about how the diversity of our microbiome affects things like our mental health and weight too. I find it all interesting anyway!

[bazookagoof]

Jan 9, 2019 19:55:14 GMT 3piggles said:

 I'm really trying to reduce my salt intake, as too much gives me terrible leg cramps, but reducing my sugar intake is much harder!

I'm desperately trying to reduce my sugar intake myself. I'm a HUGE fan of cakes, ice cream, candies, you name it!  Recently I've read a few articles on how sugar can possibly cause cancer, so I'm buying less desserts and trying to stick to just fruits and juices. I still have a small amount of candy that I'm slowly getting rid of, and I think what I'll try to do is indulge only a few times a year, if I can.

Sometimes it feels like an addiction, so it won't be easy. Once in a while I feel like I HAVE to have something sweet. It helps if there isn't anything, but even at the least I think there's a jar of honey in our pantry, so yes... this will be a tough nut to crack!

[3piggles]

Baz, sugar is addicting. My daughter, who got into drinking copious amounts of Pepsi, got hooked. She's actually had withdrawal when she tried to cut back, so has had to be really careful. She's doing much better now, but she put on a lot of weight, as well as generally being wired all the time from the sugar. Sugar and caffeine effect us in ways we don't want to give up, apparently. Feel good foods.

I'm trying to cut back on my sugar intake, but I'm also finding foods that may be sweet, but are also good for me. I make granola with maple syrup. It's sweet enough for me to feel satisfied, yet it's only about 1/4 cup of maple syrup for 8 cups of oats, pepitas, and different nuts. I add the dried cranberries and raisins while it's cooling after it's cooked. I use that on yogurt, put it in my breakfast smoothies for fiber and sweetening, or just eat a bit as a snack. It's packed with good nutrients.

I made the trail mix last night to have something healthy to snack on at night, when I tend to get antsy and eat everything in sight. Unfortunately, I had some problems with the cranberries attracting what little salt there was, like little magnets, so I'm trying to rectify that. Both Vic and I enjoyed the trail mix, and we don't have to eat a whole lot to feel satisfied. I put dark chocolate chips in it, so there's even the hit of chocolate once in a while, and chocolate that's good for us.

I hope you manage to get off the sugar, but it is an addiction, so you may have to find ways to psych yourself out, if you're going to reduce your intake.

By the way, sugar doesn't cause cancer, but cancer feeds on sugar. If diagnosed with cancer, you should eliminate as much sugar from your diet as possible. Hopefully, that won't be a problem for you.

Bean, I said vegans have digestive problems because several of my vegan friends have complained about digestive problems, and quite a few of the low FODMAP forum members have posted about needing vegan recipes, so they are definitely vegan with digestive problems.

I agree that there is no one diet that is right for everyone, unless it's the most natural diet. For that, though, we'd have to go back to growing our own food, and hunting or trapping for our meat, and that's not realistic for most people in first world countries.

I'm also not sure I agree that the lives of livestock would improve, if there were less demand for it. So far, I've seen no shortage of guinea pigs in pet stores, or filling up shelters, so I think as long as there is anyone willing to buy that type of thing(mill animals as pets, or rapidly grown livestock), the problems will continue. We need laws ending huge factory farms and animal mills, which will cost producers greatly, and that will get passed on to the consumers. It will, though, be the only way to guarantee decent treatment of food animals, especially since there are more than enough countries willing to buy all the meat and poultry we produce, should Americans stop eating it. That will, if anything, open even more markets, with even fewer regulations to burden our farmers and ranchers

Meanwhile, I'm still making as much of my food myself, as possible, so I know where it came from, and how it was made. I'm also going to try collagen powder, which is supposed to help with everything from digestion to arthritis, and see if it really makes a different. Nothing has, so far, but I really don't want to take medications, if I don't have to. They all have nasty side effects, and I tend to get them all I'll let you know if the collagen helps my digestion.

[bazookagoof]

Jan 10, 2019 21:50:46 GMT 3piggles said:

By the way, sugar doesn't cause cancer, but cancer feeds on sugar. If diagnosed with cancer, you should eliminate as much sugar from your diet as possible.

Yes, that's actually more accurate to what I've been reading, something along the lines of it attaches more readily to sugar. Of course, that kind of information tempts me to go and eat as much as I want until I get diagnosed, THEN I'll cut back!

Just kidding, sort of.  I am trying to cut back.

As I write this, I really want a piece of cake. Good thing there isn't any in the house.

[Bean]

You were wanting salad in another thread - do you want them together?!

It's interesting what you say about aiming to indulge a few times a year, Baz, as I was reading an article saying that historically loads of different countries have eaten a good, natural diet of some variation for most of the year and then had several feasts or celebrations a year where they've overindulged. Now many people in Western countries overindulge (whether it's sugar, fatty foods, alcohol etc) every day, and those who think they're being healthy still often do it every weekend! We 'treat' ourselves a lot more!

Although I've lost most of my sweet tooth (it used to be relentless!), we do tend to do this - it's just understood that weekends are for a few drinks and some puddings or cakes! I wonder how much of it is just habit, and if different habits could be just as enjoyable but better for our health (once our brain/ body has adjusted!)? It's good to step back every now and then and think about it!

All the food groups that the low FODMAP diet addresses potential intolerance to are largely plant-based, so it stands to reason that there would be a mix of meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the group. I wouldn't make the connection that vegan and vegetarian diets cause more digestive problems. Only that perhaps of all the people who are intolerant to those foods, people who don't eat meat may inadvertently be consuming more, especially in relation to pulses and soya. Any diet that restricts what you can eat is more complicated when you already have restrictions though, so those people often need more support, especially if they're used to convenience foods.

I do think it's pretty easy for us to head massively in the right direction with food, even if we don't all become self-sufficient. Just cooking your own food and eating as few highly processed products as possible is a major step. So many people who say they don't have time to cook manage to find to go on social media for an hour or so a day, or watch their favourite soap opera. I think a lot of it is about priorities.

[3piggles]

I wasn't making a connection that vegans and vegetarians have more digestive problems, just pointing out that the type of diet, carnivore, herbivore or omnivore has less to do with having digestive problems than the types of foods we include in those diets. I do think carnivores are more likely to OD on fats and salt, than are vegans. Sugar is a problem with all three, as desserts aren't necessarily in any of the three categories.

I've found I really can't have the things I crave, or I eat them. I sent the rest of the Christmas cake home with granddaughter. I'd make cookies, etc., and send them to work with hubby. I haven't made any of those things since he stopped working. I might make up a batch of banana or zucchini breads this summer, and give them to the neighbors. I only want one.

I think you're right, Bean, that we can train our brains in any way, whether it's to stop treating itself as often, or to stop eating certain foods. Breaking any addiction requires putting the energy we put into the addiction, onto something more beneficial. The way many of us have been trained to eat is basically an addiction, in that the brain has to be retrained. Hubby's portion size problem is a perfect example. His brain needs to be retrained to accept smaller portions as adequate, and not as starving.

I'd love to lose my sweet tooth, but I don't see that happening any time soon. I have cut way back on salt, though, which is a start, and except for fats in olive oil, etc., I've also cut way back on fats. I'm not a major red meat eater, so that wasn't as hard for me as cutting back on sweets and salt.

[Bean]

Sharing your spoils with others is a great way to have a taste of what you love, without having more than you should! Homemade things are the best too as you know that even if it's not packed full of nutrients (not that some bakes can't have good stuff in too), it doesn't have all the added crud like additives and preservatives that we really don't need.

The book I've just read (The Four Pillar Plan) says that as a general rule of thumb (of course it's not a fool-proof rule), if a bought/ processed food has more than five ingredients - leave it on the shelf and make it yourself!

It was really interesting actually, worth a read if you can get hold of a copy (I borrowed it from the library). It's mostly common sense (not that we can't all use a bit of a nudge on that one!), but it's definitely made me think about a few things and implement simple changes.

[3piggles]

Bit nippy here, this morning, but the overnight cold,(yes, I had my windows open a crack) made for a great sleeping night 🤗 Feels like temp was about -4F. I see we forgot to set this clock back 🤗

That's an interesting rule, but considering most people don't know what most of the ingredients do, or even read the list, it's a great way to get them started. People also need to learn how to read the nutrients list, as many need to limit salt, sugar, carbs or saturated fats.

Up until a few decades ago, public high schools taught home economics to girl, and different types of shop to boys. By the 60s, that was changing to all of them open to all students, which resulted in girls going into wood or auto shop far more that boys going into home ec. I think all three should be mandatory for graduation for all students, so kids have at least one year to learn enough to be able to make informed choices.

The books sounds interesting, but you're someone who seeks information. This information needs to get to the people who don't seek information, or don't even realize they should eat differently.

My niece cooks for the week, on Sunday, and has all of her main meals ready to reheat. I know that's hard to do for people who work shifts, have no support from the family to help get it done, don't know how to cook, or can't afford much food. This information needs to be tailored to them, so everyone knows how to get the healthiest foods the can afford.