Getting Enough Iron
Avoid drinking tea or coffee with your meals because these make it harder for the body to absorb iron. It’s best to wait at least half an hour after eating before you have a tea or coffee.
Getting The Nutrients You Need
It’s important to make sure you’re getting enough protein.
Vegetarians And Healthy Eating
The main healthy eating messages are the same for everybody. As part of a healthy balanced diet, we should all be trying to do the following.
- eating at least five portions of a variety of fruit and veg every day
- basing meals on starchy foods such as pasta, rice, cereals and pulses such as beans, peas and lentils. These should make up about a third of the diet
- trying to cut down on food that is high in saturated fat and having foods that are rich in unsaturated fat instead, such as vegetable oils (including sunflower, rapeseed and olive oil), avocados, nuts and seeds
- trying to grill, bake, poach, boil, steam, dry-fry or microwave instead of frying or roasting in oil
- eating some protein foods such as dairy products, eggs or pulses and having a variety of these foods
- cutting down on sugar
- watching how much salt we’re eating - it’s a good idea to check food labels and try not to add salt to your food when you’re cooking
- drinking about 1.2 litres (6 to 8 glasses) of fluid a day or more if you exercise
But you also need to make sure you’re getting enough nutrients, especially protein, iron and selenium, which can sometimes be lacking in a meat-free diet.
Happy Holiday America
Well another Independence Day is almost upon my American Cousins – happy holidays America.
Only two days now until you celebrate your Independence Day, doesn’t time really seem to fly? 1776 seems an awful long way away and yet 232 years is not that long in the great scheme of things. Ponder where the world will be in 2240 – well there’s one thing for sure unless we learn to time travel and have a holiday in the future none of us will know.
But I digress.
The other day I was doing some research for another project I’m working on when I stumbled across the fact that Benjamin Franklin was in fact a vegetarian!
Now to be honest I didn’t know this, or more to the point never thought of it before. So as you are celebrating your Independence Day holiday this week I thought I’d do a search for American opinion makers (I originally thought of confining it to politicians but sorry guys couldn’t really find that many!!)
Now for obvious reasons I can’t verify the accuracy or otherwise of this post but to the best of my belief I think it is reasonably accurate.
My original ideal was to post a large group in strict alphabetical order but on second thoughts I decided to go for a top ten and place them 1,2,3 and so on. Remember this is an Irish view of Americans!
First place goes to Benjamin Franklin, (1706-1790) – Well if I’m doing an Independence Day who else could I place first?
Second spot goes to Tomas Jefferson, (1743-1826) – I’m including Jefferson in second place in the knowledge that he was not vegetarian but because of a letter he wrote to Dr. Vine Utley ‘I have lived temperately, eating little animal food, and that not as an aliment, so much as a condiment for the vegetables, which constitute my principle diet.” Source: Jefferson Writings published by the Library of America, 1984
Third spot goes to Clara Barton, - Founder of American Red Cross; source: National Parks. www.nps.gov/clba . For my money one of the most vital organizations in the world today.
Fourth place was difficult but I decided to give it to Steve Jobs, – Even though he is a Pescetarianism as distinct from a vegetarian. Jobs was co-founder and chairman of Apple Computers and those like Jobs and Gates really have changed our lives drastically.
Half way there. Fifth Place goes to Julia “Butterfly” Hill, - Environmental Activist who sat in the ancient Red Wood, Luna, for two years, source: Stated in public talk she gave. I don’t know that much about Hill really but been Irish I do love someone who rubs authority the wrong way 
Sixth place goes to, Jay H Dinshah (1933-2000) – Founder of The American Vegan Society. For all vegans reading this post, I’m not vegan myself, if I was then I’d probably move him up the ladder a bit.
Seventh place goes to Howard Lyman - President of the IVU, 1996-1999 Source: speech he gave to the World Vegetarian Congress, 1996 in which he said: We are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Walk your talk and no one will be in doubt of where you stand
Eight place goes to Robert Lutz, - president of Chrysler Corp. USA. Again anyone who runs a corporation like Chrysler really has influence
I’m going to end up with two politicians and put both in joint ninth; they are included due to the fact that very few politicians seem to take personal stands: in alphabetical order:
Abourezk, James G. - Former U.S. Senator and Congressman
Jacobs, Andrew - US Congress, Indiana Source: PETA and
Maybe there are some more deserving opinion makers out there that I didn’t get to know about but that’s life.
Again enjoy your holiday and remember everyday is a holiday when you have freedom
.