Veganuary month

[Amyw Profile]

Sometimes I think these things can just be luck of the draw or genetics . I think we probably all know someone that drinks smokes and has a poor diet that are slim with no health issues . There’s also the thing of being skinny fat where you can ge aesthetically slim but store far internally round the organs .

I always like reading the stories about people celebrating their 100+birthdays who have a drink or couple of fags everyday

[Stokey Sue Profile]

There's a lot of genetics in the metabolism, and hence blood levels of both triglyceride (ordinary fat) and cholesterol. And the proportions of the good and and bad stuff are probably largely genetically determined

There are whole text books on the conditions

[jeral Profile]

Thought I posted this yesterday.

You should feel pleased with yourself Amyw, because you’ve found a ‘diet’ you feel comfortable with and has improved your health.

My BiL was asking yesterday about plant based diet - his GP has put him on statins because his cholesterol is 6.9. It’s not a surprise as its been high for a little while, but puzzling because he’s slimmer than me, does a lot of exercise and they mostly cook from scratch with plenty of veg and fruit.

I don't understand statins as the "world experts claim quite different numbers as to what is too high bad cholesterol. I read that once started on statins, it's for life. If that's true it is a major decision methinks to agree to being put on them.

Vegan food used to mean a plant diet, plant-based can mean anything now. If your BIL is already eating healthily, he could try raw veg (ones he likes raw) so that no goodness is lost in the cooking. It might be clutching at straws though if it's hereditary.

I'm just wondering quizzically: If your BIL changes his diet, how will he know if it's that or the statins that are helping (or not)? (I have postage stamp knowledge.)

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Statins help cut down the amount of cholesterol made in the liver

Obviously, if they work for an individual without bad side effects then they would tend to stay on it for life, as the need to keep cholesterol under control isn't going to go away. But here's no sinister "once you start you can never stop" - it's not crack!

[Pampy Profile]

"...too high bad cholesterol..." varies for different people, depending on their health/risk factors. For example, I have always had low cholesterol but as I have diabetes, my heart attack/stroke risk is high, therefore I take statins to mitigate the risks.

[dennispc Profile]

Letter in yesterday’s Guardian. A 95 year old is asked about his longevity, in order of priority - DNA, Life Style, NHS. I’d go along with that.

My Cholesterol is low, lower than my Stroke Consultant’s! Hence no statins. Is there room on your postage stamp Jeral for my knowledge? SC told me the body (liver) produces 85% of our cholesterol needs.

Also in my DNA is high blood pressure - my sister’s is way above mine and has been for many years - but never been a problem for me until this year, caused by stress I was told. BP also increases as we age, presumably because the heart has to work harder, though I don’t know why.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Blood pressure tends to increase with age because your blood vessels get stiffer and sometimes narrower due to atherosclerosis and so the heart has to push harder to get the blood through them; blood pressure is really a measure of the amount of push the heart is giving.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Going back to Fish Fragrant Aubergines, Fuchsia Dunlop has made a video for Serious Eats, now available on YouTube

Worth watching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uU6DwAi2S8

Apparently she’s made a series of videos with them that they are slowly releasing

[dennispc Profile]

Caught up with the latest Iceland episode - included making a vegan sausage roll. Use soy, wheat protein, sunflower oil and something else. Marketed as needing cooking at 33p each in a pack. Gregg’s is £1 I think.

[Pampy Profile]

I had a giggle at the founder's comment about vegan "meat" products - something along the lines of "if they want something to taste like meat, why don't they just eat it!".

[Sakkarin Profile]

Does Vegbruary beckon?

[scullion Profile]

i think vegruary runs off the tongue a little easier!

[Sakkarin Profile]

Are you still Veganing, AmyW?

I made a fab green curry with my Lidl tofu, it's millimetres from Vegan, the only naughty things being that it was PROPER green curry paste, with shrimp paste in it (most supermarket green curry pastes don't have shrimp paste), and also I used the non-vegan marigold veg stock. I did however use soy rather than fish sauce.

I really think it would make just as tasty a dish with those two subs.

[Amyw Profile]

I guess I'm kind of flexitarian.

I only use plant based milk , Never really eaten butter, however cheese and eggs still do feature

I don't eat meat at all and may have an occasional piece of fish .

I'd say my breakfasts are always vegan - either porridge with plant based milk or toast and fruit .i guess lunch often is as well , as I like a lot of vegan soups.

Dinners can vary. I love tofu in stirfries and curries which normally features once a week. But then tonight was cauliflower cheese , full on dairy . I reintroduced fish as I was feeling a bit run down protein wise and would rather go down the pesce route then cave in and have a burger.

Best vegan product I've had - MandS plant kievs, so garlicky and buttery you wouldn't be able to taste rvd difference

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I didn’t take pictures but had to make something involving leaves for a supper thing tonight. Only when I’d made them did I realise my pair of dishes were vegan

Taken from Anissa Helou’s Lebanese Cuisine, I made Swiss Chard two ways

The stalk were cut in small pieces, lightly cooked, and dressed with a tahini dressing

The green leaves, with sumac, lemon and pine nuts were made into filling for little triangular pasties - well I made a few but as I suspected it might be it was so slow and fiddly I made the rest into a pie using filo brushed with olive oil

[Sakkarin Profile]

Good grief, Vegarch already.

The only meat left in Lidl a few days ago was this "Plant Mince", so I thought I'd give it a try anyway, not horrifically expensive at £1.99 for 275g. It looked very lifelike, and I decided to make some of my favourite Keema recipe with it. The similarity ended there though, as when I went to add it to the pot, the mince like strands disappeared, and it turned into a very soft and squishy mess in my hands, and smelt like kidney beans. Not very appetising. In the end it actually made a pretty good keema, but it was not really meaty, I'd describe it as kidney bean mash keema, although I did manage to retain some of the granular minceish texture. Still a pretty hearty meal with pilau rice, maybe 6 out of 10. And as far as I can tell completely vegan.

[scullion Profile]

i tried some of that a few weeks back, i think in a chilli or spaghetti sauce.
it was a little disconcerting the way it took on the look of cat sick while it was cooking although the end product was ok.
the burgers in the same range are better.

[Sakkarin Profile]

"Cat sick"

It certainly wasn't pleasant to use! "Crumbling" it into the pan as I normally do to make keema, it sort of squidged through my fingers like when you squeeze a handful of mud. I gave up doing it that way and put the whole lot in the pan and used a spatula to break it up.

[scullion Profile]

sorry, was that a bit too graphic‽

[dennispc Profile]

A week ago my vegan friend sent me this

"Please, guys, don’t treat this email as, “Oh, it’s just (name), again, trying to convert us.” This isn’t a game, it’s deadly serious:
Anyone over 60, especially those with a possible comorbidity - especially high blood pressure, diabetes and CVD -  is at risk from COVID-19. Whatever disease you or any of your family have, please, for your own and for your families sake, immediately adopt a Whole Food Plant-Based diet. Do not take my word for it, please research it yourself. Search the condition followed by WFPB. Eg: Diabetes WFPB. Multiple sclerosis WFPB. This research will show you that it’s possible to halt or even reverse most Western diseases. Look for nutritionfacts.org forksoverknives.com pcrm.org 

Note: A WFPB diet has NO side effects. Check out vegan22.com for free support, incl. a mentor who will tell you what you should eat to be healthy.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/scie ... ly-common/

Also, watch ‘What the Health’, ‘The Game Changers’.

Stay well, (name)"