What can we learn from the vegan diet? Photo: The Vegan Cookbook

What if there were an eating plan that helped you lose weight while still allowing a generous amount of food including gasp carbs?

This month the results of a small study of diet and weight loss from the University of South Carolina failed to generate big headlines, yet after comparing the weight loss achieved by five groups of people on five different diets it found that those who lost the most weight were the ones on a vegan diet meaning no animal foods at all but quite a lot of carbohydrates.

After six months, the vegan group had lost more than twice the weight of the non-vegetarians, an average of 7.4 kilograms compared with just over three kilogramsin the meat eaters, the semi-vegetarians (who occasionally ate meat) and the pesco-vegetarians (who ate fish). The vegetarians (who also ate eggs and dairy) came a close second, averaging 6.3 kilograms.

It's not the first study to show weight loss success on a diet based entirely on plants. Six years ago I interviewed Dr Neal Barnard, Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at George Washington School of Medicine, about his research looking at using a plant food-only diet to control type 2 diabetes. He found that besides controlling blood glucose more effectively than the standard American Diabetes Association diet, the diet also helped reduce weight and cholesterol.

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That's not to say that everyone who needs to lose weight should scratch meat and dairy from their shopping list but at a time when low carb is often sold as the only true path to weight loss, it's a reminder that there is more than one way to shift excess weight, says Dr Kate Marsh, an Accredited Practising Dietitian and author of The Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook.

"One advantage of a vegan diet for weight loss is that it can be very filling this is partly because it's very high in fibre but also because foods like legumes and whole grains have a lower GI (Glycaemic Index) so they help you feel full. Diets that are high in fibre and low GI have been shown to help with weight loss," she says. "With a vegan diet you can also eat a large volume of food without necessarily consuming a lot of kilojoules. And one of the hardest things about sticking to a weight loss plan is being hungry."

The focus on low-carb diets for weight loss also ignores the evidence that quality carbohydrates such as legumes and whole grains staple foods on a vegan diet can be a weight loss ally, not the enemy, Dr Marsh says.

"It's true that if you follow a low carbohydrate diet you are likely to lose weight as you cut out a lot of processed carbohydrates that can contribute to weight gain and disease risk. But not all carbs are the same and it's the quality of the carbohydrates that counts. I don't think there's any research that suggests that cutting out whole grains and legumes will make you healthier in fact the opposite is true."

Continued here:
Eat carbs, lose weight lessons from a vegan diet

WEST NORRITON >> Gangster vegan?

Like jumbo shrimp, the two words are contradictory and seemingly incompatible.

After all, vegans are peace-loving, sandal-wearing hippie types, and gangsters are hoodlums who are prone to violence, so the two breeds have no business ever hooking up in any sensible world.

Welcome to Vince DePauls world.

The Norristown native admitted he set out to bedevil the traditional vegan stereotype by naming his specialty raw food market in Jeffersonville Gangster Vegan Organics. But playing around with incongruities is only a small part of DePauls story.

When I was living in California I was going to vegan restaurants, where the conceptualization of a vegan is a soft, feminine, barefoot, tree-hugging hippie. And here I was all tattooed up, listening to rap music and going to these restaurants and they said, Oh, you dont look vegan. What does a vegan look like? Gangster and vegan are two strong words. When you say vegan to a gangster hes like, Get out of here. And when you say gangster to a vegan, they will tell you that gangsters are bad. So its a tricky play on words and it has people questioning what it is. My role is to make it fun and hip.

Whether a customer pops into his shop for one of the famous wellness shots made of such health-enhancing ingredients as ginger, cayenne and apple cider vinegar, an alkalizing juice of cucumber, kale and cilantro or a broccoli burger to go, the amiable DePaul is more than willing to share the story of his own incredible transformation through a vegan lifestyle.

DePaul remembers his success as a wholesaling T-shirt entrepreneur living on the West Coast for a dozen years as ultimately creating his downfall.

I was hanging out with rappers, drug dealers and entertainers, partying all the time, and then my business went bankrupt and I hit rock bottom, he said. I was morally, emotionally and physically bankrupt. Then God came into my life and at that moment I stopped smoking cigarettes, eating [junk food] and was introduced to my first glass of fresh juice at 29 years old. Up to that point I thought of juice as Tropicana and Minute Maid thats what I would drink every day.

Juicing was only the beginning of his metamorphosis, DePaul recalled. Continued...

Originally posted here:
Gangster Vegan Organics in Jeffersonville aims to change lives with raw, organic food

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLSm5iIciLY

Vegan Vegetarian Thai Recipe: Sweet-Sour Tofu with Shiitake Mushrooms
Vegetarian Vegan thai Recipe: Sweet-Sour Tofu wit Shiitake Mushrooms Recipe Ingredients: 400g Tofu diced 2 Bell Pepper cut 10 Shiitake Mushrooms dried a handful Celery Leaves 1 tbsp ...

By: Vegan International

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Vegan Vegetarian Thai Recipe: Sweet-Sour Tofu with Shiitake Mushrooms - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyxUqWUDUo4

Vegetarian Corn Chowder Soup Recipe by Archana #39;s Kitchen
Vegetarian Corn Chowder Soup Recipe is one of the ultimate comfort foods for winters. The sharp flavor of celery and the creaminess of the potatoes makes it nutritious and wholesome too. Both...

By: Archana #39;s Kitchen

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Vegetarian Corn Chowder Soup Recipe by Archana's Kitchen - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tLkKRkTRdc

Navratan Korma - - Healthy Nutritious Vegetarian Korma Recipe
Share on Facebook - http://goo.gl/Qw7yFB Tweet about this - http://goo.gl/ZFFyCq Share on g+ - http://goo.gl/nEmAlH Navratan Korma - a very rich, royal and delicious recipe. This dish is named...

By: Swaad Anusaar

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Navratan Korma - - Healthy Nutritious Vegetarian Korma Recipe - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV_5qqLI7aQ

Elika vegetarian
Papme mrkviku - Autor: Daniela Kuerov.

By: Nato Video

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Elika vegetarian - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NQevUvoruM

Mam Thai Chay (Vietnamese Vegetarian Veggies with Caramelized Fermented Tofu Sauce)
Mam Thai Chay (Vietnamese Vegetarian Veggies with Caramelized Fermented Tofu Sauce) http://www.facebook.com/boriville http://www.boriville.com http://www.twitter.com/boriville ...

By: Boriville

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Mam Thai Chay (Vietnamese Vegetarian Veggies with Caramelized Fermented Tofu Sauce) - Video

Stomp contributor Andrian felt indignant that he had to pay $6.40 for a packet of vegetarian chicken rice.

He said:

"[I was] hoping that the standard of chicken rice is good, when the auntie walk out with a packet of rice, she told me to choose the dishes.

"So I randomly selected the dishes and when I was done, the auntie told me to pay $6.40.

"In my mind I was thinking, how the hell would this cost me $6.40, it's not even a restaurant, walking into Pastamania to order a plate of Arabiatta spaghetti only $5.50!

"Kopitiam or Koufu also not so expensive ... I ask them if they have counted wrongly, their respond was no, it is $6.40.

"Rice $2, fake meat $2 each and the remaining $0.40.

"This is the most expensive vegetarian mix rice I've ever eat in my entire life."

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Would you pay $6.40 for vegetarian mix rice?

By ALISON LADMAN

If you really want the vegetarians at your Thanksgiving table to give thanks, start by not serving them a roasted faux meat. We admit, there can be a time and place for not-meats, but Thanksgiving isn't one of them.

Recipe included with this story: Thanksgiving Eggplant Strata.

Instead, consider making a hearty vegetable dish that can serve as the main course for non-meat eaters, while doubling as a delicious side for the carnivores. And for that role, we offer this deliciously creamy strata that marries layers of roasted eggplant, delicata squash and red cabbage with a rich bechamel sauce. Think of it as a white sauce lasagna crossed with ratatouille.

And to help you out as you struggle to get all the various dishes on the table, this strata is easily prepped the day before. On Thanksgiving, just pop it in the oven for about 35 minutes and it's ready.

-- Alison Ladman, The Associated Press

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Thanksgiving vegetarian recipe: Eggplant Strata that's worth giving thanks for

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXaYv2niwO0

Nutrition Tip of the week on ORGANIC FOOD from Blackburn Personal Trainer Ashlee
Organic Food is it really all its cracked up to be?? Well our Blackburn Personal Trainer Ashlee talks to you about Organic Food and why you should be eating ...

By: The Urban Fitness Club

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Nutrition Tip of the week on ORGANIC FOOD from Blackburn Personal Trainer Ashlee - Video