Where do you get your protein/calcium on a plant based diet?
Protein and calcium are readily available from all the raw plants we eat. Here are 2 examples: the biggest animals in the world are vegan! Think of the largest dinosaur in the world, the brachiosaurus, or gorillas, or cows, etc -- all veggie eaters. Another case in point: You never see anyone going to the hospital because of protein deficiency. All foods contain protein! As long as you are getting enough calories its impossible to get too little protein.
As for calcium, many vegetables you didn't even know, like broccoli and tons others, are full of calcium. Actually, its the meat and sugar eaters that have the most problems with calcium deficiencies and here's why, when we create an acid condition in the body then it has to pull calcium from the most readily available source--and that's from your bones. Meat and processed sugar, coffee, soda are some of the most acidic things you can eat. A state of acidosis is created by consuming these foods and then the body pulls calcium from your bones to survive. This is called osteoporosis.
As for calcium, many vegetables you didn't even know, like broccoli and tons others, are full of calcium. Actually, its the meat and sugar eaters that have the most problems with calcium deficiencies and here's why, when we create an acid condition in the body then it has to pull calcium from the most readily available source--and that's from your bones. Meat and processed sugar, coffee, soda are some of the most acidic things you can eat. A state of acidosis is created by consuming these foods and then the body pulls calcium from your bones to survive. This is called osteoporosis.
But how do you get complete proteins? DO you have to combine certain vegetables?
The woman who developed the "incomplete protein" theory in the 70's (based on her study on rats), has later recanted her stance on that theory BUT it was too late--once the meat and dairy industry heard of this they blasted the misinformation everywhere they could and today it is considered fact. The truth is all foods are "complete" proteins. If you are getting enough calories, you are getting enough protein (which is why protein deficiency doesn't exist in our culture).
how can you afford to eat healthy?
My response to that is how can you not?! The cost of getting sick is tremendous. Not only in time, but also in money. A heart attack is enormously expensive. And honestly, you can't put a price tag on health.
Another thing to consider is meat and other animal products are quite expensive. When you eliminate or reduce those items you make plenty of room in the budget for fresh vegetables. (And if you do choose to eat animal products in a reduced amount, you afford to buy only the highest organic grass fed quality. Under no circumstances ever eat animal flesh that is poorly fed, it is full of toxins and disease and you eat that and take it into your body!)
For all my best ideas on how to save money by eating clean, see my blog post on that topic:
"It is too expensive to eat healthy"
Another thing to consider is meat and other animal products are quite expensive. When you eliminate or reduce those items you make plenty of room in the budget for fresh vegetables. (And if you do choose to eat animal products in a reduced amount, you afford to buy only the highest organic grass fed quality. Under no circumstances ever eat animal flesh that is poorly fed, it is full of toxins and disease and you eat that and take it into your body!)
For all my best ideas on how to save money by eating clean, see my blog post on that topic:
"It is too expensive to eat healthy"
How can you travel and eat healthy?
With a family of 7 and traveling often, we have become pros about this topic! Getting a kitchen in a hotel room is very helpful but can be much more expensive and not always necessary. You can bring a cooler and as long as you change the ice every day it works just fine. We have learned not to bring the food - I hate traveling with a packed car. We do sandwiches on the drive, just easy stuff to eat on the road. Pretty much every where we go has a health grocery store (Whole Foods, Sprouts) nearby. So we just do the shopping when we get to town. I scout out all the grocery stores before we even leave. Even Walmart has a lot of fresh produce (even organic) variety so unless you are camping in the wilderness its not really a problem in the city (in that case I would bring the food)..
We also have a traveling hot burner and a crock pot we can bring to hotels if needed, but we have learned that some hotels don't appreciate that so you have to be mindful. We just really consider vacation a great opportunity to eat cold foods from the cooler. I will spend a week before preparing amazing dehydrated snacks (the whole family considers it a real treat). And we have those to much all throughout the day. I also do a little research on the internet and find out about nearby vegan/vegetarian restaurants. We budget in eating out maybe once a day. Finding vegan restaurants is great because they are usually conscious about processed sugars too. Yes it is more expensive but the whole point of a vacation is to splurge and have fun! So save up for it, plan ahead, sell some stuff or make a little extra money and go for it! (And I haven't been to all the parks lately, but we do love Legoland (huge Lego fans here!) and it has an amazing selection of healthy eating options inside the park. So we budget for that and splurge because it is, of course, ridiculously expensive) :)
We also have a traveling hot burner and a crock pot we can bring to hotels if needed, but we have learned that some hotels don't appreciate that so you have to be mindful. We just really consider vacation a great opportunity to eat cold foods from the cooler. I will spend a week before preparing amazing dehydrated snacks (the whole family considers it a real treat). And we have those to much all throughout the day. I also do a little research on the internet and find out about nearby vegan/vegetarian restaurants. We budget in eating out maybe once a day. Finding vegan restaurants is great because they are usually conscious about processed sugars too. Yes it is more expensive but the whole point of a vacation is to splurge and have fun! So save up for it, plan ahead, sell some stuff or make a little extra money and go for it! (And I haven't been to all the parks lately, but we do love Legoland (huge Lego fans here!) and it has an amazing selection of healthy eating options inside the park. So we budget for that and splurge because it is, of course, ridiculously expensive) :)
I don't know if I can eat salads for every meal...do you find the food boring?
I don't know where people heard that people who eat healthy must eat salads every day...but I guess it's going around so let me dispel that myth...no we don't eat salads for every meal or even every day! But if I did they would be delicious-- I make a mean salad ;)
We are all about substituting and finding amazing recipes that fit your life. With the amount of information on the internet there is truly a recipe for EVERYTHING. It's amazing. Some of the vegan dessert recipes I make are SO delicious that even people on the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) find them so amazing they prepare them in their home! Check out my vegan strawberry cheese cake recipe and my frappuccino and orange julius. No processed sugar. No junk. Just whole food goondness. They are amaze-balls ;)
We are all about substituting and finding amazing recipes that fit your life. With the amount of information on the internet there is truly a recipe for EVERYTHING. It's amazing. Some of the vegan dessert recipes I make are SO delicious that even people on the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) find them so amazing they prepare them in their home! Check out my vegan strawberry cheese cake recipe and my frappuccino and orange julius. No processed sugar. No junk. Just whole food goondness. They are amaze-balls ;)
Don't you need animal foods to maintain your health?
No! Here's the surprising truth....everything that is awesome about animals came from the fact that they ate plants. Why is grass fed meat so important? Because grass is where it's at! All the nutrients come from the animals eating the greens. So why get your nutrients second hand? This baffles me to no end. I think its because meat is a comfort food and the thought of eating less or eliminating it is too difficult for some. Eating your nutrients "second hand" (through the animal) is not nearly as potent as if you just ate the nutrients from the plants themselves. First off, you have to trust the farmer actually fed the animal grass 100%. Some years ago my parents $500 of beef only to find out it was finished on corn. But let's say it truly was, then you have to cook the meat which destroys all of the enzymes and many of the nutrients. This is extremely taxing on the body because then the pancreas has to provide ALL of the enzymes to digest the meat. To learn more about the dangers of consuming meat regularly, please see my "basic nutrition" info section.
And because the animal products contain such a limited amount of nutrients they must consume a TON of meat. This is why meat based "clean eating" plans cannot heal cancer or other serious diseases. They can offer no help because they are feeding the cancer by offering it 1 of it's 3 favorite foods (excess fats, sugars, proteins). Disease is caused by a nutrient deficiency and toxicity. Meat is full of toxins and not even close to as many nutrients as plants. Time to go green!
A better option for healing is to adopt a healthy plant based plan that incorporates raw foods and fresh vegetable juices (see the question below "Why do you juice?"). If you'd like meal plans see my FREE 21 day Recovery Plan (for those trying to use foods to assist in healing a serious illness) and my FREE 21 Day Detox plan (a great plan for anyone switching from the Standard American Diet to a plant based one).
And because the animal products contain such a limited amount of nutrients they must consume a TON of meat. This is why meat based "clean eating" plans cannot heal cancer or other serious diseases. They can offer no help because they are feeding the cancer by offering it 1 of it's 3 favorite foods (excess fats, sugars, proteins). Disease is caused by a nutrient deficiency and toxicity. Meat is full of toxins and not even close to as many nutrients as plants. Time to go green!
A better option for healing is to adopt a healthy plant based plan that incorporates raw foods and fresh vegetable juices (see the question below "Why do you juice?"). If you'd like meal plans see my FREE 21 day Recovery Plan (for those trying to use foods to assist in healing a serious illness) and my FREE 21 Day Detox plan (a great plan for anyone switching from the Standard American Diet to a plant based one).
Why do you juice?
Juicing is the most effective way to heal and regain our bodies alkalinity. When we eat foods our body has to separate the fiber from the nutrients. When we normally eat foods much of the nutrients are lost in digestion. If you were to eat a carrot your body must break down the cellular structure and then assimilate the nutrients. In a healthy individual, the percentage that gets absorbed might only get 35% of the nutrients contained in the carrot. In someone who is not healthy, it could be as low as 1% nutrients absorbed. In the form of juice, the same individuals were able to absorb 92% of the nutrients.
The extreme value and benefit of juicing can't be overstated. ALL disease is caused by toxins or deficiency. It's only 1 of 2 things. By adding juicing to a healthy balanced diet, you speed the process of recovery which is crucial when battling fast growing cancer and other things. Juicing is detoxifying and purges toxins from your body. It also accelerates the process of restoring critical nutrients to chemically starved tissues.
(Information from: "live Food Juices", H.E. Kirschner, M.D. and "The Juicing Book", Stephen Blauer)
The extreme value and benefit of juicing can't be overstated. ALL disease is caused by toxins or deficiency. It's only 1 of 2 things. By adding juicing to a healthy balanced diet, you speed the process of recovery which is crucial when battling fast growing cancer and other things. Juicing is detoxifying and purges toxins from your body. It also accelerates the process of restoring critical nutrients to chemically starved tissues.
(Information from: "live Food Juices", H.E. Kirschner, M.D. and "The Juicing Book", Stephen Blauer)