A Rude Awakening

This week the Humane Society Of The United States revealed the disgusting findings of an undercover worker sent to document what goes on inside a cow slaughterhouse in California. You can read about the results in this Los Angeles Times article. The findings mostly show that cows that are too sick to even stand up and lying in their own poop are still killed and fed to our children at school. Although I wasn't very surprised at the outcome, I suspect it will disgust many people who haven't thought much about where their food comes from. If you haven't given much attention to the origins of your food, now is a good time to start. The US Department of Agriculture is supposed to inspect these places, but they were definately not present during the 6 weeks this undercover worker was employed. If you think the USDA will make sure what you are eating is actually safe, think again. The reason cows that can't stand are not supposed to enter the food chain is because they might have mad cow disease. In my opinion, we can only ignore things for so long before a major health disaster comes along.
What can we do? Make sure you know where your food comes from. I eat a vegan diet of locally grown foods. I know the farmers who grow my vegetables. I see where the rice is grown. This way I can remove many of the scary "unknowns" from my diet.

Superfoods To The Rescue

Lately there seems to be much talk about called superfoods. Superfoods are foods that contain especially high levels of antioxidants or other nutrients. Some of the most well-known superfoods are

• Blueberries - rich in antioxidants and phytoflavinoids
• Green or black tea - also rich in antioxidants
• Wheatgrass - made up of 70% chlorophyll and many other nutrients and antioxidants
• Tomatoes - contain lycopene, thought to have antioxidant and cancer-preventing properties
• Oats - seems to help lower cholesterol levels
• Cacao (chocolate) - rich in many different nutrients
• Flax seeds - omege-3 fatty acids
  

There are many other foods that fall into the "superfoods" category as well. For a lot more info on superfoods, check out this wikipedia page.
These foods are meant to be eaten as a way to prevent things like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other sicknesses. They can also help bring you back to optimum health if you are sick. Many people use them as a Detox Cleanse. Additionally, none of the superfoods are processed. They are all in their natural, raw state. You never seem to see superfood chips or pizza!

Although some so-called health experts warn people that there is no such thing as superfoods, I disagree. My reasoning is that these days any anything that promotes the eating of fruits and vegetables is a good thing. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements for junk foods like burgers, pizza, and candy. When was the last time you saw a tv commercial for broccoli? Probably never. Some critics of superfoods seem to think people will try to live on blueberries and wheatgrass alone. This is doubtful. Of course the best diet in my opinion is a vegetarian healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, with foods that fit into the "superfoods" label mixed in whenever possible as well. Juices are one of the best ways to get more fruits and vegetables into your diet. Check out these juicing recipes for some great ideas.

A Vegan In The NFL

I just read an interesting story in The Wall Street Journal about Tony Gonzales, a standout in the NFL who decided to try going vegan. He went straight from gorging on meat and other high-calorie, high-fat foods like nearly everyone else who plays in the NFL to giving a completely vegan diet a go. What made him switch was sitting next to someone on a plane who told him about a book called "The China Study". After he read the book himself, he made the change. NFL athletes push their bodies to the extreme, and Tony can do it on a vegan diet--almost. He now eats a carefully planned out, mostly vegan diet, as well as a few servings of chicken and fish a week. The article says that he has failed, but I think what he has done is wonderful. The road to being vegetarian or vegan is different for everyone, and he gets props from me just for daring to try. From the article it seems like he is the only one to ever do this in the NFL. Even if many people gave up meat for only 1 day a week, it would do a lot of good for the world.
The article does mention a couple other professional vegan athletes: NBA player Salim Stoudamire and Ultimate fighter Mac Danzig. The fact that these athletes are being recognized by the Wall Street Journal means that the vegetarian diet is gaining in popularity.
Here is the link to the article.

If you are going to be bad, do it in these states: Vegetarian-friendly prisons

I just read this article that says PETA has made a list of the top 10 vegetarian friendly prisons. This is pretty funny stuff. Who would have thought a prison, of all places, would be careful to cater to vegetarian palates? The list of food that some of these prisons serve sounds better than what I usually eat myself! It includes things like vegan pizza, veggie lasagna, vegan cookies and brownies, veggie burgers, and all sorts of other tasty grub.
I can't say that I have ever been to prison before, but if I do, I will try my best to run across the border and get busted in one of these states! Maybe in Idaho (#1 on the list), they will let me grow wheatgrass in my cell. And I always imagined prison food disgusting soggy muck that they heaped on your plate.