37. READ LABELS TO AVOID BEING A VEGAN JUNKIE

My friend, Heidi, is quite proud of her status as a vegan, and she has asked me what I think about her choice of foods. Since she works fulltime, she eats a lot of easy-to-prepare food—cold cereal for breakfast, a big salad for lunch with creamy dressing and a vegeburger for her evening meal. 

This kind of food–cold  cereal, salad dressing and vegeburgers–point to a rule that all vegans must practice if they want to eat healthy: “Read labels.”

Let’s start with Heidi’s breakfast cereal. It is possible to purchase healthy dry cereal with no additives, but the average box of cereal in the grocery store contains three harmful ingredients. The first one is BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene), which is added to cereal and many other foods to prevent oxidation. It is listed by the National Toxicology Program as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.” It is also used in jet fuels, rubber petroleum products, transformer oil and embalming fluid. The Material Safety Data Sheet warns that BHT should not be allowed to enter the environment, because it can cause liver damage and is harmful to aquatic organisms. 

Another harmful ingredient often added to cereal that should always be avoided is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It is becoming pretty well known that HFCS is being used in place of sugar because it is cheaper, but it is far more deadly. HFCS causes tissue damage that may lead to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. It is being blamed for fatty liver, even in children, because of its prevalence in soft drinks.

A harmful ingredient that is found in many cereals and other foods is the food coloring yellow #5. Colorants are derived from coal tar and may contain lead and arsenic. Coal tar could potentially cause cancer.

Salad dressings are often loaded with harmful ingredients such as soybean oil, which is often made from genetically-modified (GMO) soybeans. Genetically modified crops pose a risk not only to the environment but also to human health.

Propylene glycol alginate is a food thickener, stabilizer and emulsifier often used in salad dressings and many other foods. This chemical is also used in automotive antifreezes and airport runway de-icers.

Perhaps the most deceiving item of food that Heidi bought is the vegeburger. When I became a vegan, I was introduced to veggie meat. I immediately loved it and never tasted a variety that I didn’t like. I never got caught up in buying this substitute meat because it is quite expensive. Now to look at the ingredients:

Textured soy protein concentrate, carrageenan, maltodextrin, disodium inosinate, modified cornstarch. All of these are basically different names to hide ingredients that either contain monosodium glutamate (MSG) or form MSG during processing. MSG is an acidifying chemical that can cause a variety of undesirable side effects, including accelerating bone loss. MSG and its related products have been linked to skin rashes, nausea, migraine headaches, heart irregularities and seizures.

Needless to say, after I learned about the harmful ingredients in vegetarian meat, I no longer found it so appealing. Heidi’s diet would be far healthier if she will cook oatmeal or make granola for her breakfast, make salad dressing with olive oil, lemon juice and Italian herbs, and make oat-pecan patties, keeping the extra in her freezer.

The diet of choice for those who want to live on plant food is simple. READ LABELS THEN CHOOSE FOODS THAT HAVE FEW INGREDIENTS AND NO ADDITIVES! 

GRANOLA
10 c old-fashioned oats
1 c almonds or pecans
3/4 c unsweetened coconut
1 c frozen apple juice concentrate
1/2 c raisins or dates
1/4 c olive oil
2 t vanilla
1/8 t maple flavoring
Mix dry ingredients. Add vanilla, oil, and blended
apple juice and raisins. Bake all night on the lowest
oven setting.     

OAT-PECAN BURGERS
4 c water
4 c rolled oats
1 onion finely chopped
1 c chopped pecans
3 garlic cloves minced
1 T basil
1 t sage
1 t salt
1/4 c nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c ground flaxseed
Place all ingredients except oats in a large pan,
stir well and bring to a slow boil over medium heat.
Stir in oats and immediately remove from heat.
Cover and set aside to cool. Preheat oven to 350.
Form into 3-inch patties and place on sprayed
baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes on each side.
Makes 20 burgers.