"NOTHING WILL BENEFIT HUMAN HEALTH AND INCREASE the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." ー ALBERT EINSTEIN
Considering what is at stake, I had to share that information about the links between eating animal meat and preventable disease. Depressing or not.
I don't, however, want to create the impression that your main motivation for going vegan should be avoiding an early death.
Instead, one of the best motivations for giving up animals products should be how much more it will help you get the most out of life.
Going vegan is going to help you feel incredible physically. I might not be a world-class athlete like the MMA fighters or professional footballers I mentioned earlier, but don't sleep on me either. In my twenties and thirties I was round and bloated and felt and looked like crap most of the time. One of the reasons I spent so much time getting high was to distract myself from having to confront how much I'd let my body go.
Today I'm much smaller. I might not have a six-pack,
but there's no doubt that I'm in much, much better shape that I've ever been in my life. Whether it is in yoga, on the treadmill, or in the boardroom, I can more than hold my own with the thirty- and even twenty-year-olds. I attribute so much of that vitality to my diet.
My friend the rapper Snoop Dog commented on this recently when I appeared on his show, GGN. "You looking good, you living good, you damn near look like you're going backwards," he told me. "Like you're twenty something damn years old."
"I'm older than a mother, Snoop," I replied.
"You know I know, but you look like you going backwards. Like you age is running that way instead of that way. is it what you eat?"
'I think it's happiness," I told him, before explaining that eating a compassionate diet is a big part of what makes me happy." "I don't eat any animal products ーno meat, no dairy, no eggs, no fish ー none of that shit . . . and that helps a lot."
Then I gave Snoop the same rap I'm giving you in this book, Happy Vegan, explaining why giving up animal meat products is so important to us as individuals and collectively. Snoop paused and wistfully rubbed his chin. "Damn, Barbecued ribs, filet mignon . . . damn. . . that's hard to give up."
To prove my point that it actually was not hard at all, I gace Snoop a Super Italian Meatball Sub ( the meatball is made from seitan instead of beef) from Native Foods, a vegan restaurant in Los Angeles. By the end of the episode, Snoop was sold. "That vegetarian meatball good," he said between bites, "Or whatever it is."
Recipe for vegetarian meatballs made from seitan mince
Chef : Chantal Voets
Snoop might think I'm looking younger, but it is a different story for a lot of people in my age group that I grew up with. It pains me to say this, but a lot of them are dying. They need pills just to get through the day. They walk slow, they talk slow, and their brains seem to have started to slow down. A lot of these folks seem like they're on their final run, like they've resigned themselves to their fate.
Maybe Snoop's right, because I feel like I am moving in the opposite direction. I haven't had a cold or felt rundown in close to five(5) years. I have to attribute a lot of that to not eating animals meat. It only stands to reason that I'd get healthier once I stopped ingesting sickness and sadness on a daily basis.
There are so many who feel like they've been able to reclaim their bodies ー and their lives ー by giving up eating animal products. For some, like the boxing great Mike Tyson, it was a step that they credit for saving their lives. After retiring from the ring, Mike fell into the vicious circle of drug and alcohol abuse. He gained a ton of weight and was in really bad shape by the time he hit his forties, 40s. "I was so congested from all the drugs and bad cocaine that I could hardly breathe. I had high blood pressure, I had arthritis . . . I was dying," he told Oprah. "Once I became a vegan, all that stuff diminished."
I also know plenty of people who were already living clean and healthy lives but saw giving up eating animal products as a way to get the most out of the work they were putting into their bodies. A great example is my niece Angela Sommons, who has been a vegetarian since I showed her and her family Diet for a New America several years ago. (click here to view the video, run time is 56:41 minutes).
Diet for a new America , by John Robbins. Diet for a New America is a 1987 bestselling book by John Robbins. The book discusses vegetarianism, the environmental impact of factory farming and animal rights.
Considering what is at stake, I had to share that information about the links between eating animal meat and preventable disease. Depressing or not.
I don't, however, want to create the impression that your main motivation for going vegan should be avoiding an early death.
Instead, one of the best motivations for giving up animals products should be how much more it will help you get the most out of life.
Going vegan is going to help you feel incredible physically. I might not be a world-class athlete like the MMA fighters or professional footballers I mentioned earlier, but don't sleep on me either. In my twenties and thirties I was round and bloated and felt and looked like crap most of the time. One of the reasons I spent so much time getting high was to distract myself from having to confront how much I'd let my body go.
Today I'm much smaller. I might not have a six-pack,
but there's no doubt that I'm in much, much better shape that I've ever been in my life. Whether it is in yoga, on the treadmill, or in the boardroom, I can more than hold my own with the thirty- and even twenty-year-olds. I attribute so much of that vitality to my diet.
My friend the rapper Snoop Dog commented on this recently when I appeared on his show, GGN. "You looking good, you living good, you damn near look like you're going backwards," he told me. "Like you're twenty something damn years old."
"I'm older than a mother, Snoop," I replied.
"You know I know, but you look like you going backwards. Like you age is running that way instead of that way. is it what you eat?"
'I think it's happiness," I told him, before explaining that eating a compassionate diet is a big part of what makes me happy." "I don't eat any animal products ーno meat, no dairy, no eggs, no fish ー none of that shit . . . and that helps a lot."
Then I gave Snoop the same rap I'm giving you in this book, Happy Vegan, explaining why giving up animal meat products is so important to us as individuals and collectively. Snoop paused and wistfully rubbed his chin. "Damn, Barbecued ribs, filet mignon . . . damn. . . that's hard to give up."
To prove my point that it actually was not hard at all, I gace Snoop a Super Italian Meatball Sub ( the meatball is made from seitan instead of beef) from Native Foods, a vegan restaurant in Los Angeles. By the end of the episode, Snoop was sold. "That vegetarian meatball good," he said between bites, "Or whatever it is."
Recipe for vegetarian meatballs made from seitan mince
Chef : Chantal Voets
We couldn't live without meatballs! Choose vegetarian seitan meatballs
Making meatballs really isn't hard, and vegetarian seitan meatballs couldn't be simpler. Delicious in soup, spaghetti, fondue, as a snack ... these meatballs will be a firm favourite with young and old alike. The yummiest vegetarian meatballs are made from the best mince: Bertyn's seitan mince is the ideal choice. It's delicious with a great texture; it's also high in protein and low in carbs.We couldn't live without meatballs! Choose vegetarian seitan meatballs
Making meatballs really isn't hard, and vegetarian seitan meatballs couldn't be simpler. Delicious in soup, spaghetti, fondue, as a snack ... these meatballs will be a firm favourite with young and old alike. The yummiest vegetarian meatballs are made from the best mince: Bertyn's seitan mince is the ideal choice. It's delicious with a great texture; it's also high in protein and low in carbs.Ingredients for Veggie meatballs from seitan (serves 4)
- 250 g Seitan Veggie Mince
- 25 g binder (cornflour, potato flour or kuzu) mixed with 70 mL water
- spices
- a large dash of olive oil
- 150g breadcrumbs
Preparation
Preparation time: / Cooking time: / Total cooking time: How to make meatballs using vegetarian seitan mince
In a large bowl, separate the mince using your hands. Add the binder of your choice and the nutmeg. Squeeze the mixture into small, firm balls, roll them in the breadcrumbs and fry over a high heat with a generous dash of oil. Fry until the balls form a crust. Drain well.Snoop might think I'm looking younger, but it is a different story for a lot of people in my age group that I grew up with. It pains me to say this, but a lot of them are dying. They need pills just to get through the day. They walk slow, they talk slow, and their brains seem to have started to slow down. A lot of these folks seem like they're on their final run, like they've resigned themselves to their fate.
Maybe Snoop's right, because I feel like I am moving in the opposite direction. I haven't had a cold or felt rundown in close to five(5) years. I have to attribute a lot of that to not eating animals meat. It only stands to reason that I'd get healthier once I stopped ingesting sickness and sadness on a daily basis.
There are so many who feel like they've been able to reclaim their bodies ー and their lives ー by giving up eating animal products. For some, like the boxing great Mike Tyson, it was a step that they credit for saving their lives. After retiring from the ring, Mike fell into the vicious circle of drug and alcohol abuse. He gained a ton of weight and was in really bad shape by the time he hit his forties, 40s. "I was so congested from all the drugs and bad cocaine that I could hardly breathe. I had high blood pressure, I had arthritis . . . I was dying," he told Oprah. "Once I became a vegan, all that stuff diminished."
I also know plenty of people who were already living clean and healthy lives but saw giving up eating animal products as a way to get the most out of the work they were putting into their bodies. A great example is my niece Angela Sommons, who has been a vegetarian since I showed her and her family Diet for a New America several years ago. (click here to view the video, run time is 56:41 minutes).
Diet for a new America , by John Robbins. Diet for a New America is a 1987 bestselling book by John Robbins. The book discusses vegetarianism, the environmental impact of factory farming and animal rights.
This well-documented expose of America's "factory farms" should prompt even die-hard meat-and-potatoes lovers to reevaluate their diets. Asserting that "we are ingesting nightmares for breakfast, lunch and dinner," Robbins, who is medical director of the California Institute for Health and Healing, details how livestock is raised under increasingly industrialized conditions by "agribusiness oligopolies." Grazing and foraging have given way to debeaking, tail-docking, dehorning and castration, and treatment with pesticides, hormones, growth and appetite stimulants, tranquilizers and antibioticswhich, in turn, are assimilated by humans. The author correlates our "protein obsessed" society with a higher incidence of arteriosclerosis, osteoporosis, cancer and other degenerative diseases, as well as freakish occurrences like premature puberty from estrogen contamination. As Robbins debunks nutritional myths perpetuated by the powerful meat and dairy industries (indicting as well his family's Baskin-Robbins ice-cream empire), this is sure to prove controversial.
Click here to watch on Youtube
Detaching herself from the abuse of the animals in farm factories industry was a big motivation for her, but she was also attracted to the idea that a plant-based diet would give her more energy during her workouts. Once she made the switch in her diet, she found that her energy and stamina increased almost at once. Tapping into that new power source, she was able to dedicate herself to an intense schedule of yoga, kickboxing, cross-training, and weight lifting, and has managed to work herself into absolutely incredible shape. I've been so proud to watch her transform from someone who was dealing with the body issues young women face into a completely empowered young woman.
"I've been vegetarian for four years and I love it. I feel lighter. It's a good feeling." ー Angela Simmons eating her lunch.
That sense of vitality and empowerment is not going to be limited to only your body when you give up eating animal products. The mind-body connection that yogis talk about is real. Your body is truly your temple, and when you take care of it, that sense of health and vitality will translate to your outlook on life too.
A recent study published in Nutrition Journal found that there is a direct link between having a positive outlook on life and not eating animal meat. According to the study's authors, the high amounts of fatty acids found in factory farm meat has negative effects on people's moods. "Restricting meat, fish, and poultry improved . . . short-term mood state in modern omnivores," the study concluded.
I'm glad scientists are starting to look into this connection because I can attest from personal experience that it is real. It is really just common sense. Any time you step out of a harmful cycle and into a good one, it is going to make you feel happier about your place in the world.
We accept that this is true for people who step out of a harmful cycle of drug abuse, even prescriptions included. Or the harmful cycle of a dysfunctional relationship. Or the harmful cycle of crime. Well, it is no different with what you eat. When you let go of the negativity that comes from ingesting death, you are going to feel happier and more upbeat about your relationship with the world.
We always hear about the former drug addict or ex-criminal getting a new lease of life. The same lease is waiting for you. All you have to do is let go of the foods that are not only aging you but killing you too, and start eating a diet that promotes life. Longevity with Healthy Wealth.
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