However, I do have one monkey wrench to throw into the whole vegan thing. Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t think going vegan is bad. I think it’s actually a great thing… if you do it a certain way.
What do I mean by a certain way?
Whenever I hear a vegan talking about his/her diet, it seems to me as if he/she is trying to substitute everything they would normally eat in a non-vegan diet. Things such as bacon, sausage links, hot dogs, turkey, chicken, beef, ice cream, etc. When someone goes vegan, to me, that means you concentrate on sticking to whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, etc. When I think vegan, that’s just what pops into my head.
But, many, many vegans choose to substitute their meat products for processed vegan products. This is where my "beef" lies. Take Tofurky, for example. I looked at the list of ingredients for the "Foot Long" Veggie Dog off of the Tofurky website. This product’s first questionable ingredient is isolated soy protein, which very often contains monosodium glutamate (MSG). Then you get to natural vegetarian flavors and natural smoke flavor. These two ingredients can very often be umbrellas for a concoction of up to 300 different ingredients, of which can contain excitotoxins like MSG. Next up is yeast extract. This is a sludge-type concoction that almost always contains MSG.
If you don’t already know, MSG is a salty food additive used to make foods more flavorful. MSG is an excitotoxic ingredient that can penetrate the blood brain barrier and destroy brain cells in a chain-reaction-type effect. Considering vegan or vegetarian items can taste terrible sometimes, the reasoning is understandable. But the methods are questionable at best.
Next, I looked at the Chipotle Franks. Some of the same stuff, except now this contains autolyzed yeast extract. This is similar to yeast extract, except that it is more processed and is guaranteed to contain MSG.
Next, I looked at the Beer Brats. These contained textured wheat protein. Any protein that gets a "textured" in front of it, always contains MSG.
In all fairness, a lot of the Tofurky products look okay, but the fact that they use these ingredients in some of their items definitely raises my suspicion.
I also checked out StarLite Cuisine, which makes some meatless chicken taquitos that are actually quite good. I ate these once, before looking at the ingredients and was disappointed at what I saw. They contained the dreaded yeast extract. Darn it! I liked these things, too.
You’re probably wondering how all these ingredients can actually contain MSG. Well, the FDA made it legal for food companies to omit MSG from their ingredients if the substance that contains it contains less then 90% MSG. So if a preservative contains 89% MSG, according to the FDA, you don’t need to know. If you want to know more about MSG and other excitotoxins, I recommend Russell Blaylock’s book Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills. You can actually buy it from our website if you look over to the right of this post.
My point is this. I think being vegan is cool, but if all you’re doing is substituting meat products for meatless products, the food companies have to make you want to eat them again somehow. Whereas sticking to a whole foods diet really is the best bet.
I, personally, am not vegan. I can live with vegetarian, but I don’t really have the desire to label myself one or the other at this point in my life. I love to eat 2 organic eggs every morning cooked in coconut oil. And although I haven’t had it in a while, I’m still eating fish. Especially since you can only get the important Omega-3 oils, EPA and DHA, from fish, unless you can find a spirulina or algae supplement that actually contains EPA and DHA. Oils like flax seed oil only contain ALA, which is good, but doesn’t nourish your brain cells like EPA and DHA. Besides that, I eat mostly raw fruits, veggies, nuts and/or seeds throughout the rest of the day.
If you’re a vegan who’s not a raw foodist, I’m curious to see if you eat these items or not. If you do, does this kind of information bother you at all?
I interviewed people who eat mostly or all raw diets. This is to give you an insight on why and how they live this lifestyle. I will be posting them periodically for you to enjoy and will also have an interview category so you won’t miss any! These are obviously the opinions of the person being interviewed, so use your head and do what is best for you. (Am I supposed to tell you to seek the advice of your health care professional here? Well, if in doubt go ahead and ask them!)
This interview is with SmilingRawDancer on December 20th, 2007. I know her from rawfoodtalk. She was kind enough to be my first interview! Thanks!
Tell us a little bit about yourself. I’m a college student in California. Pre-raw I craved all foods, all the time. Despite the fact that to others I was a "healthy eater," I was overloading on Splenda, low-carb candy, powdered milk, fat-free egg replacers and non-nutritious items. I rarely ate vegetables except iceberg lettuce, and was well on my way to being an obese health food eater. As I became raw, I learned more and more about vegetables, preparation, how to cut various items, and realized how little real food I ate pre-raw. Now people in the grocery store talk to me ALL THE TIME, and ask me questions about the huge amounts of bananas and Thai coconuts I buy.
Are you male or female? Female
What is your age? 19
How long have you been eating RAW? Since early summer, 2006.
How did you learn about RAW? I happened across it while desperate to find some truth about health. It was God’s gift to me.
What does eating RAW to you mean? It means everything. It means eating REAL food, avoiding illness, being a good example to others, and saving animals and the environment.
Why did you choose to eat RAW and why do you continue to do so? It just made sense, and the food is SO yummy…I don’t think I could stop if I wanted to!
How did you transition from SAD to RAW? Cold turkey. I just made the decision, went out and bought some romaine, mushrooms, tomatoes, apples, bananas, ACV and walnuts…the rest is history.
Are you a vegetarian or vegan? Why? How does that effect your RAW lifestyle? I’m a Vegan, I found that Alissa’s method made the MOST sense. There are just so many nasties involved in raw dairy. Cows milk is meant for cow babies. It doesn’t affect my raw lifestyle, really, except that I don’t eat dairy or anything that comes from an animal.
What benefits have you personally noticed from eating RAW? Initially I lost about 20 pounds, but since then I’ve had the stamina to run, bike…live my life. I don’t get sick often, I don’t take antacids or Ibprofrin, I no longer have severe toe infections, and my eyesight has gotten a bit better too.
What is your favorite RAW food or recipe? I LOVE young coconuts, so anything involving those. Raw desserts are just awesome.
What advice do you have for others looking into eating RAW? Just do it. It’s not hard. Just shop at the produce department, buy frozen fruit, and begin researching…don’t view it as an ALL OR NOTHING situation. Sometimes you have to ease into something as you acquire more knowledge about it.
Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about eating RAW? It really is easy. People like to make things complicated, but picking up an apple, or making banana ice cream is simple, and inexpensive. And you DON’T have to eat organic to be raw, do what you can.
Do you have a blog or website you would like to share? I have a raw twitter, www.twitter.com/missraw
I was at Whole Foods the other night (yes, anyone that knows me is familiar with this being my FAVORITE store ever!). I ventured into their raw foods, scouring the shelves for anything labeled RAW. I bought whatever I could find. When I checked out, my bill was $163.35. "Not bad," you say, "for Whole Foods." Well, my husband would disagree. See, he has a problem with spending that kind of money on groceries when he opens the fridge or cupboard 2 days later and there is NO food.
So, tonight I did a little experiment. I wanted to see how much food I could get at Costco and Sprouts for about the same. This is what I found. The advantage is I get a ton more raw and healthy food for myself and my family. This will help me to stay eating raw. I won’t get hungry and feel like I have nothing to eat. The downside is I have to give up having everything organic for now. Hopefully not for long, b/c I do feel organic is important. After writing out the grocery lists, I realized I wasn’t able to get a lot of organic at Whole Foods either. So, if you can’t get all organic, buy the non-organic at a place where the quality is still good, but cheaper!
I think this is another step towards me becoming 100% totally raw and vegan.
Just for kicks and because I have nothing better to do (ok, I am rolling on the floor laughing my butt off at that one), I am going to post all 3 grocery list receipts. This will give you an idea of what I was able to purchase. If you don’t find it interesting, at least you can find it amusing that I am doing this instead of sleeping while my children are all sound asleep.
My shock at Whole Foods;
Produce and Floral:
Navel Oranges: 94 cents Medjool dates: 2.34 (this was for 5 dates) 2 avocados: 3.98 (not the organic ones…those were 2.99 each baby!) Seedless red grapes (local, but not organic either, 2.49 lbs.) 12.43 Organic bananas (2.21 lbs): 1.97 Bananas (2.17 lbs.): 1.50 Seedless watermelon (1/4 of a watermelon): 3.75 1 lb. strawberries: 6.99
Grocery/Bulk/Dairy
2 Strawberry Synergy Kombucha: 6.78 Holiday cocoa display (this is hot cocoa "coal" for my brother): 1.99 Lite raw shredded coconut: 1.69 Raw cacao chocolate powder: 8.99 for 8 oz. Raw cacao power nibs: 8.99 for 8 oz. National raw goji berries:14.99 Instant flax oatmeal (for kids): 2.99 Organic soy sauce: 2.49 Raw organic sprouted pumpkin seeds: 14.99 OUCH! Maybe I need to get the regular kind! Raw organic sprouted sunflower seeds: 10.99 Raw organic flax snax (crackers): 8.99 Jalapeno Raw organic crisps (crackers): 4.69 Raw organic hickory paprika crisps: 4.69 Raw organic sunflower flax snax: 8.99 Raw almonds (.89 lbs): 14.23 Raw pecan halves (.54 lbs): 6.47 Raw/dehydrated sliced mango (.50 lbs): 6.50
Total: 163.35
Yummy, but expensive for sure!
So, on to the experiment.
Sprouts
Bulk/Dairy
Basil leaf: 44 cents Vanilla Beans: $3.49 6 Synergy Kombucha: 20.94 (Maybe I need to learn how to grow my own, what do you think?)
Grocery
2 Raw Blue Agave: $8.18 Bragg’s extra virgin olive oil : 5.99 4 Raw Lara Bars: 6.36 4 Bragg’s salad dressings: 13.56
Total: 84.98 (This was with stocking up on dressing and agave as well)
Costco
2 12 oz. raspberries: 7.98 Frozen strawberries: 8.29 5lb bag organic baby carrots: 4.79 2 24 oz. blueberries 15.98 A golden pineabpple: 3.49 2 bags avacados (about 10 large): 11.98 2 lbs grape tomoatoes: 4.99 8 lbs bananas: 2.60 5 lbs lemons: 6.99 "Transitional" Gala apples 4 lbs red seedless grapes: 8.49 2 18 oz blackberries: 9.98
Total: 93.55
Total of Costco and Sprouts combined: 178.53
WOW!!!
I can not even tell you the difference! That’s why I took pictures! I think Costco and Sprouts win for now. I spent almost the same amount of money and received so much more awesome, yummy food.
I’m so sorry Whole Foods, but I have to break up with you. It’s not you, it’s me. OK, not really. It is you. Maybe we can have a fling on the side every now and then for old times sake. When I can afford you and be your sugar mama, we can talk again about something serious. For now, there will always be a special place in my heart for you. I will love you forever.
Obviously, there’s a lot of talk around here about going all raw and/or vegan. For goodness sakes, there’s been all sorts of talk about that stuff in our household, too. I feel like it’s everywhere. That’s good, though. I like being surrounded by people and topics that force us all to look at our health and how to constantly improve it.
If you don’t already know, MSG is a salty food additive used to make foods more flavorful. MSG is an excitotoxic ingredient that can penetrate the blood brain barrier and destroy brain cells in a chain-reaction-type effect. Considering vegan or vegetarian items can taste terrible sometimes, the reasoning is understandable. But the methods are questionable at best.