Striving4Zen

Nutritional yeast is not the yeast you bake with, says Melina Jampolis, M.D., a health expert for CNN.

"Nutritional yeast is a type of yeast that has been specially cultured for optimal nutrition value and good taste," she says. "It is a very good source of complete protein (important for vegans and vegetarians), fiber, and B vitamins. It is definitely a healthy and tasty addition to a balanced diet. Lots of vegans use it in cooking, and I'm addicted to these kale chips that are baked with it as they taste like Parmesan crusted chips but are super healthy."

Where can you buy it? Most health food stores sell nutritional yeast, and you might even get lucky at your local grocery store. Just ask next time you're out shopping.

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Labels: b-vitamins, healthy diet, Kale, nutritional yeast, supplements, vegan, vegetarian, yeast

The only reliable food sources of active vitamin B12 are animal foods, such as meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk, yogurt, and cheese. While some plant foods in their fermented or otherwise processed versions (including sprouting, in some cases) contain vitamin B12, there are no known plant foods that provide consistent, dependable levels of this important nutrient.

Many soil bacteria can make vitamin B12; so can certain bacterial inhabitants of the human digestive tract. Yet, there is inadequate research to confirm that these potential B12 sources are reliable sources for a person who is strictly vegan and eats no animal foods of any kind, including dairy products.

It's important here to distinguish between a strict vegetarian - who might include eggs and dairy products in his or her meal plan-and a strict vegan, who would not include these foods. All of those non-flesh yet animal-derived foods can contain B12. Strict vegans should therefore do one or more of the following:

• Regularly consume foods that have been fortified with active vitamin B12, such as fortified breakfast cereals or bread products, fortified soy products (like soy burgers, hotdogs, or breakfast patties), nutritional yeast, and yeast extracts
• Take an oral, nasal, or sublingual vitamin B12 supplement
• Receive vitamin B12 injections from their doctor.

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Labels: Dairy, eggs, essential nutrient, nutrients, vegan, vegetarian, vitamin B12, yeast

World's Healthiest Foods, a site dedicated to eating whole foods to achieve good health, provides some insight on many of today's meat substitutes - i.e., TVP, soy protein isolate, et al.

An ever-increasing number of processed foods contain soy components that have been extracted from whole soybeans and altered for manufacturing purposes. Anyone regularly eating a variety of processed foods is very like to be consuming these soybean "piece parts" that bear little resemblance to naturally occurring, whole soybeans.

Included in this list of "piece parts" are isolated soy protein, soy protein concentrate, textured soy protein (sometimes called textured vegetable protein or TVP), soy flakes, soy milk powders, and other extracts from the soybean that have little to do with its whole food benefits.

In addition to these unnaturally fabricated soy components, there's been an increasing tendency in the marketplace to devalue soy for any of its unique health benefits, and to treat it instead like nothing more than a meat substitute. This approach leads to the manufacturing of soy products that are less and less comparable to traditionally fermented, whole soy foods in terms of nutrition and health benefits. Parts of the soybean are now found in literally thousands of packaged foods, along with marketing statements about the value of soy. But these isolated parts of the bean do not count as the food itself.

Labels: fermented, frankenfoods, healthy diet, meat substitute, soy protein, soybeans, TVP, vegetarian

Calcium is a mineral found in a wide variety of foods besides dairy products. Virtually all greens contain calcium. By "greens," I mean all the dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, chard, mustard greens, and collard greens as well as lettuces, like romaine. Shredded cabbage is also a source of calcium.

Virtually all nuts and seeds - and especially sesame seeds - contain calcium. So do most beans, including navy, pinto, kidney, and black and others. Additionally, tofu can also be an important source of calcium, particularly when the tofu has been calcium-precipitated (meaning that calcium was used to help convert the soy milk into tofu) it can provide a significant amount of calcium.

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Labels: beans, calcium, green leafy vegetables, healthy diet, Nuts, plant foods, seeds, tofu, vegetarian

Proteins are made up of amino acids. Twelve are manufactured by the human body, and 9, called essential amino acids, we must get from our diet.

Can we get them all from plant sources?

A complete protein is a food that contains all the essential amino acids. Animal protein like meat and dairy products are complete proteins, but it's also possible to get all your essential amino acids from plant sources. In order to get a vegetarian complete protein, you need to combine foods to make one. Beans and rice are a popular complete protein, but so is nut butter on whole grain bread, and hummus on pita. Recent research shows that you don't need to combine these foods all in one meal. You can combine them over a 2-day period.

So it doesn't really matter where you get these essential amino acids, as long as you get them. Your weight will determine just how much protein you need. A 120 lb woman needs to eat about 43g of protein a day. A 130 lb woman needs to eat about 47g of protein a day, and a 150 lb woman needs to eat about 50g of protein a day.

There are so many plant sources of protein and meat alternatives. As long as vegetarians eats a wide variety of foods they'll be able to get all the amino acids they need, and they don't need to eat extra plant protein to get them.

Thanks FitSugar!

Labels: amino acids, beans, complete protein, Dairy, meat, protein, vegetarian