On Milk and Other Expired Love Stories

There are 300 milligrams of Calcium in a cup of whole milk.
There are approximately 4 times more than that in a cup of sesame seeds. Yet, the entire time I was growing up, no one pranced around the image of a cup of sesame seeds and said, "Here, it builds strong bones! You must have sesame seeds with breakfast every day if you want to avoid osteoporosis later!"
Ever seen an ad ask, "Got sesame seeds"?

White sesame seeds (Shailesh Humbad, http://www.ivcooking.com)

Why is it that the image of milk as "rich in Calcium" or "builds strong bones" is blown up on magazine pages, school posters, and TV screens, and the image of sesame seeds isn't? On average, an adult needs about 1,000 milligrams of Calcium a day. So, really, if you have a cup of sesame seeds a day, you've exceeded that requirement; the same cannot be said about a cup of milk.


I never liked milk. This might come as a shock to my family, but when I was a child and they left a mug of milk on the table for me to drink every morning, that milk ended up elsewhere than my belly most of the time. Sorry, Grandma! I was grossed out by the whole notion of drinking white fat coming out of a cow's udder. I could see the bubbles of grease floating atop. It also smelled like the inside of a barn. Calcium or no calcium, it was simply not worth it to me.

Don't get me wrong - I think milk is very beneficial to babies/infants whose stomachs aren't trained to digest much else. But as we ease our way into solids, we should be able to reap some of milk's benefits from other, more wholesome foods. Personally, I think the way milk is promoted theses days is only a marketing technique to create business for dairy companies. Beyond that, milk is nothing but an expired myth to me :)

Another childhood myth that has extended into my adulthood was that the bigger the variety of food on my plate at any given meal, the healthier. Have a little bit of E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G at once: some meat or fish protein with a side of starches (white rice, potatoes, pasta, etc.) and a healthy does of veggies, either cooked or as a salad. Sprinkle some cheese on that salad or bread, too, for an added bonus of nutrition. Then, when it's time for dessert, go for the super-duper healthy fruit.

Sounds like a nutritionist's paradise, right? But no one's ever explained what happens once all these ingredients enter the body at once and your intestines have to break them all up into... something. So I decided to do my research on this and here's what I found out at first glance.

It is, in fact, really difficult for your body to break up different types of compounds or molecules at once. Can the body do it? Definitely. Does it burn you up? Likely. Do the benefits of each compound diminish ? Probably.

Whenever we put something in our stomachs, based on which kind of compound it is (protein, carbohydrate, etc.), specific enzymes are secreted for digestion. Sometimes, mixing these enzymes compromises the absorption of nutrients. Supposedly this is what happens when you combine protein with starchy vegetables or fats. All will eventually get digested, of course, but it poses a strain on your body and doesn't support nutrient absorption.

Sugar, fat, and salt combined do work wonders on our tongue palate, but the same does not apply to the rest of our organs. I've heard this notion of how to combine ingredients a lot with people who are on a "diet." I guess nutritionists recommend it not just for weight-loss, but also for health concerns. I've stumbled upon one of these diagrams when I was doing my research and some of this info stuck with me since. It has changed the way I select food to go on my plate or the way I prepare for a meal.

If you read the "science" behind it (in more than one place), it does make sense. Not only that, I've been feeling lighter and avoiding gas after my meals if I eat this way. I don't obsess over it, but whenever I have a choice, I follow it. For example, now that I know fruit ferments in my stomach if I eat it right after a meal, I just have my fruit while I'm cooking a meal, about 30-60 minutes before I eat. Since eating fruit as a meal on an empty stomach can have cleansing effects on my body, whenever I remember, I like to have a handful of fresh strawberries as soon as I wake up. I'd also no longer, under any circumstance, combine dairy with fruit. I used to be a big fan of smoothies without realizing that is one sure way to get fruit to ferment in my body. The same goes for fruit yogurt or ice cream. I've read somewhere that Hindus basically consider the fruit with dairy combination a poisonous one.


This is what I've been up to lately -- just curious about how my body responds to everything I put in it and trying to prevent disease best I can. Judging by the fact that I haven't been sick all summer (I'm usually sick at least a couple of times this season), it has worked pretty well. This has been one of the most stressful summers in my life, and intense stress has always led to me getting sick in the past.

So here's to fewer myths I take for granted, even if they were passed on to me with messages of love ;)
I prefer to take charge of my own health and learn to recognize what is wrong before it turns into disease. Now that I know how much I can find out just by listening to my body, that notion of going to a stranger (*ahem* doctor) who knows nothing about me or my body and expecting to receive a magic cure in less than 10 minutes seems so ludicrous.

Any nutrition myths you've busted lately? I'd love to hear them! :)

PS: In case you decide to give sesame seeds a try, know that your body absorbs the calcium inside better if you grind them before you eat them ;)

Vegan This and Vegan That

A Shift

Precisely as my Qigong instructor predicted when I first told him I became vegan, I've slowly progressed from excluding non-vegan foods from my diet to excluding all other non-vegan products from my life altogether. At first, when he said, "Let me know if you need me to recommend any vegan lotions to you for massage; I use quite a few of them," I laughed and said that's a bit extreme. You see, at the time, I was still trying to wrap my head around my new vegan diet and issues such as which sweeteners are vegan (not all sugar is, as mentioned in a previous post). It might sound weird to you, but it hadn't even occurred to me that being vegan might refer to more than one's diet. Then, as my new diet began to settle in and become more of a second nature, I started to become aware of other ways in which animal products, animal by-products, or animal-derived products are infiltrated into our lives.

Photo courtesy of vegnews.com

My main question is... is there no other way? Can we not have proper hair care or nourishing skin lotions unless we include animal products in the ingredients? And if we can, why do the companies choose not to? I want to find out.

{First of all, for anyone who might not know what the term "vegan" implies when we refer to skin/hair care products... it means that the product not only can't contain animal products such as milk or eggs, it also can't have animal-produced ingredients (i.e. honey or beeswax) or animal by-products (i.e. derived from animal fat, bones, or other parts of an animal that have been rejected for human consumption, excluding hair, horns, teeth, and hoofs). }

The other day I came across a Web page that had some very useful tips about vegan hair products. They talk about the hidden ingredients in cosmetics that don't stand out as vegan when you read the label -- unless you happen to know what the terms imply. For example, stearic acid, often found in conditioners, can be derived from cows, sheep, cats or dogs. Steroids are also derived from animals sometimes -- namely, from animal glands. And how about Keratin? Just last week I was considering a Keratin treatment for my hair to permanently straighten it into "healthy" glossy goodness. Now I've learned that it's made from animal horns and hooves, making my decision-process a whole lot easier, since I wasn't ready to spend the $280 anyway.

Why does all this matter? You ask. After all, from a sustainability point of view -- and also a Buddhist one -- if an animal has already died, it doesn't matter how we use its parts anymore. What's more, we should make the most out of them so that the animal's death actually served a purpose. Sure, it might be wrong to kill it, but once it's been killed, to reject what the animal has to offer is not only a waste, but also a "sin."

Okay. That may be true, except there is more to this issue than simply utilizing our "resources" in the best possible way. Products translate into consumerism, and so rejecting certain products becomes kind of like consumers' voting. If the demand for vegan hair/skin products is high enough (and it is), companies will shift their focus towards including vegan options in their product lines. If it surpasses the demand for "conventional" products (eventually), they might even stop making those altogether -- after all, vegan would be a more inclusive option for a wider range of customers. Call me crazy, but I think there should be more to an animal's life than serving one out of two purposes: either become food or be turned into another product for human consumption.

Photo courtesy of PETA.org

Renowned? Not in my book...

Finally, I will leave you with a fun bit of information from the PETA Web site (don't make that face -- you know you love PETA;) which may change the way you view some of the skin/hair/cosmetics companies. I had no idea so many renowned companies (*cough* L'Oreal, Unilever, Procter & Gamble *cough*) still test their products on animals! Goodbye, Dove soap and Febreeze air freshner, I guess. Oh, and I'll miss you, too, Ralph Lauren fragrances! But seriously, get with the program and quit testing on animals already. Here's the tool I mentioned; it's very fun to use.

In my next post, I'll elaborate more on why not only is it harmless to ask about the ingredients in a lotion or your food, it's actually helpful in that it sends a message and has the potential to change the way we treat animals, and, ultimately, the way we treat each other.

Coming Back

Greetings, followers!

The pause has been far too long, despite this blog being constantly on my mind. After writing my last post, I have started doubting myself. The conversations with myself have been going kind of like this:

Doubting Voice (DV): "You don't know nearly enough to speak to this issue. What, you've been a vegan for about a month, read a couple of books, seen some movies, and now you think are you qualified to make eloquent statements about veganism? It's just pathetic."

Confident Voice (CV): "Yeah. OKAY. But I'm merely documenting my experience here... that's all. I'm not generalizing or telling people what to do.

DV: "Yes, you are. In fact, you are slowly headed down that slippery-slope to becoming a hater vegan: hater of carnivores, hater of non-organic, hater of milk lotions... leather products... honey in bread... animal testing... and tequila worms. You may not like to admit it, but you've gone from 'hey, I'm a foodie concerned with the well-being of my planet' to 'look at me, I'm vegan, I'm better than everyone else!'"

CV: "Where do you get these ideas from!? You are missing the whole point here. I am entirely respectful of other people's decisions. I was one of those people who consumed all those products until not long ago. Just because I made a decision to stop, it doesn't mean I expect the same out of everyone else. This is what I've chosen for myself because it makes sense to me. And I like talking about being a vegan because I like challenging preconceived notions that people have about their relationship with food. Maybe we can all learn something -- including myself."

All this and much more, back and forth -- you get the gist.

So here's a bit of clarifying -- and it's not because I think you are the DV in my head; it's more of a {disclaimer}.

The only basis I have for most of the statements I make here is my own experience. Some of the statements might be backed up by scientists or men in white coats. But, ultimately, it's your responsibility to verify what's true and what isn't. In fact, if I hope to change anything by opening up my experience to anyone willing to listen to it, that is to show that anyone can determine for himself or herself what the best truth is. And once you determine that truth, I hope your words and actions will follow.

End disclaimer.

Now I can go back to writing about yummy food. And secretly criticizing carnivores :)