How to lose weight and keep it off...the vegan way.

It seems the CSIRO can't help itself when it comes to releasing dangerously misleading studies sponsored by meat-industry money. In the latest one to do the rounds, Dr Manny Noakes has claimed that a diet high in protein (in the form of red meat) is "more effective" at stripping away "dangerous tummy fat" in men. On the face of it, this might seem to have some positive health implications, due to the problems caused by this fat but as they say, "it ain't necessarily so"!

First of all, as nutritionist Rosemary Stanton quite correctly points out (and backed up the World Cancer Research Fund), diets high in red meat are also very strongly linked with a significant occurrence of a swath of cancers, most prominent of which is colorectal cancer, a leading cancer killer. So following Manny Noakes advice may shed the tummy fat, but it exposes you to an even bigger problem in the process. Not much of a bargain really, if you ask me.

Secondly, it ignores the bleeding obvious. Meat is but one of many sources of protein, so even if you accept the basic premise of the research (ie. high protein reduces tummy fat), it does not follow that you have to eat meat to achieve this benefit. There are many nutrient-rich sources of protein available from the plant world that don't carry any of the negative implication of a meat-based diet at all.

I'm not the only person to have found almost immediate health benefits from switching to a vegan diet, but I'll add a personal account to illustrate just how quickly and easily such benefits can be obtained without any meat - or any other animal products - in your diet at all.

Since becoming veg*n 6 months ago, I've lost - and kept off - 6kg. And this is without altering my total food consumption at all. The only thing I've done with my diet is to exclude all animal products. We were vegetarian for a month, and then realised that simply being vegetarian didn't really mean a lot given our reasons (primarily ethical), due to the appalling treatment of dairy cattle and chickens. I did lose a kilo or two in that first month, but the real weight loss didn't come until after we took that extra step of becoming vegan.

It was only when I attended a wedding last week that I realised just how much weight I'd actually lost. Not only did a lot of people comment about how different I looked due to the lost weight, but my clothes told a pretty compelling story also.

I have known for some time that my jeans were quite a bi looser than they had been previously, and had been planning to update my wardrobe accordingly, but hadn't got around to doing anything yet. Then I put on the same belt that I had worn for my own wedding in April, and had not worn since (it was new at the time). The mark from where I had worn it previously was very clear, and yet the point to which I needed to do it up was 13cm further along than it had been previously, necessitating the cutting of a new hole on the spot in order to be able to wear the belt.

Quite clearly, you do NOT need to eat red meat - or indeed any animal products whatsoever - to shed weight or significantly reduce your waistline. All that is required is simply eating a properly balanced diet in the first place. Meat is not required at all, just commonsense and intelligence, properties sadly lacking in far too many CSIRO studies - that wouldn't be sponsorship money from the meat industry talking for them, by any chance? In case you didnt know, the supposedly acclaimed "Total Well-being Diet" supported by the CSIRO was the product of work sponsored directly by the Meat & Livestock Association. Credible advice? Hardly.

Not to mention that a diet lacking in meat, apart from its proven weightloss properties, is also absent the worries of the many cancer-promoting properties that meat-eaters must continue to contend with.

Here's the original news story if you'd like to read it for yourself.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22881871-2,00.html?from=mostpop

Jane's Story

As I've mentioned previously, there are a host of ethical, environmental, and rights issues that support people in their decision to become vegan. For various reasons, they want to reduce the the impact of their lives on the world around them, and try to make it a better world for all of us to live in. No one expects to actually change the world though, but it can be important to stand up and say what sort of world we'd like to see.

Today I'd like to share with you a story that I think says it better than I could do myself. Although it is fictional, the things it describes are all very solidly based on verified fact, and that makes this a story worth thinking about. What you do from there is up to you, but at least think about it.

http://www.upc-online.org/broiler/121206jane.html

I'm still here! :-)

Unfortunately I don't have a 'proper' entry for you today, but just wanted to post to let you all know that I am still here! It's been a while since the last post, but I've been really snowed-under with a lot of family and end-of-year commitments with work, and this blog is just one of many things that have dropped down the list as I try to get it all done.

But I've got holidays coming up, and hopefully will have more time to focus on a few issues of interest that I can then post on the blog. And don't forget that questions are always welcome, so if there's something you'd like to know about being vegan then please ask! If I don't know the answer myself, then I'll make every effort to track down someone who does, and will post it for you here.

Your patience and support is much appreciated, so thanks to all of you! :-)