Why Some Vegetarians Will Not Consume Sugar

Some vegetarians--usually strict vegans--will not consume sugar. This is because sugar is often whitened with bone char from cows.

If you are a vegetarian and you want to continue eating products that contain sugar, but do not want to cause suffering in the process, you have a number of options.

Your first option is to only consume products made with beet sugar. There are two major sources of sugar in the United States: beet sugar and cane sugar. Cane sugar is often whitened with bone char from cows; in contrast, beet sugar is never whitened with bone char.

So, if you want to completely avoid the bone char, you can do so by eating only beet sugar. The only challenge--and it is a big one--is finding out which foods contain beet sugar and which foods contain cane sugar.

To make things more complex, you can also consume a number of types of cane sugar, as long as you are willing to find out what the source of the sugar is.

You can do this in a lot of cases by looking at the nutritional panel on food before you buy it. If it says fructose or dextrose, the sugar is from a plant source (either beet or corn). If it says sucrose, it could be from a number of sources, which could include bone char-whitened cane sugar.

Now, if you are cooking with sugar, you can personally verify that is bone-char free by purchasing from the following companies, which have publicly-stated that they do not use bone-char: Florida Crystals Refinery, Imperial Sugar Company, Irish Sugar Ltd., Sugar In the Raw (which is also less-refined), and American Crystal Sugar Company.

If you can’t find these brands, but want to avoid consuming bone-char sugar if possible, you can avoid these brands, which have publicly-stated that they do use bone-char: Domino, Savannah Foods, and C&H Sugar Company.

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Is A Vegetarian Diet Safe For My Infant?

If, for dietary or ethical reasons, you have decided that you want to put your infant on a vegetarian diet, you should be very careful in choosing formulas and solid food for your child.

If you plan to breastfeed the infant and you are also a vegetarian, you may need to supplement breastmilk with additional sources of nutrition, depending on your dietary restrictions. If you are a vegan, or an ovo-vegetarian, you should add sources of vitamin B-12 to your child’s diet.

Other than the B-12 supplements, your infant should be able to receive all micro and macronutrients through breastfeeding, even if you are on a strictly vegan diet.

If you plan to use formula rather than breastmilk, you should stick to commercial formulas, which contain the proper amounts and ratios of nutrients. If you opt for a homemade formula or soymilk over a commercial product, your child could experience developmental problems from a lack of proper nutrition.

If you want to keep your infant on a vegan diet, you can select a soy commercial formula, as long as it is nutritionally-adequate.

After about a year, you can begin to supplement formula or breastmilk with other sources of nutrition, such as homemade formulas, soymilk, yogurt, and cow’s milk (if you are not a vegan).

Nutritionists suggest that you keep your infant on a full-fat, high protein diet after age one, which includes vegetarian-friendly foods, such as mashed and pureed avocados, soy milk, nutrient-fortified tofu, and yogurt.

When you are ready to switch your infant to solid vegetarian foods, you can introduce solid tofu, pieces of vegetarian burgers, eggs, and cheese.

If you supplement what a nonvegetarian diet lacks, maintain a full-fat diet, and increase your infant’s sources of protein, you should have no problem maintaining a healthful vegetarian diet during your child’s crucial developmental stages.

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How To Cook For A Vegetarian This Holiday Season

Are you worried about cooking for a vegetarian in your family this upcoming holiday season? Well, worry no more. This article will tell you exactly what you need to do and know before you start cooking this holiday season.

You can start off by finding out what type of vegetarian your guest is. For instance, if she is a strict vegan, then there’s a chance she will not eat food that contains honey or yeast; however, if on the other hand, she is a "semi" or "pseudo" vegetarian, there is a chance she will actually eat the meal as it is prepared, including the meat. And if she’s a lacto-ovo-vegetarian, she might eat anything with eggs and milk, but will probably avoid meat dishes.

If you talk to the vegetarian in your family before you prepare your holiday meal, you should consider asking the following five questions:

1. Do you eat certain types of meat or none at all?
   If the vegetarian in your family will eat certain meats (generally fish, chicken, and turkey), then you should consider preparing that as a side dish or asking them if they would like to bring a small dish of it for their own meal.
2. Will you use serving utensils that have been placed in dishes containing meat?
   Some vegetarians experience severe gastrointestinal stress when they consume meat and grease from meat, so it is a good idea to find out whether or not they can do so ahead of time. If they can’t, you can simply put out one utensil for all non-meat dishes and ask that guests do not cross-contaminate.
3. Do you eat foods that contain milk and eggs?
   As I mentioned above, lacto-ovo vegetarians will eat milk and eggs, but other sub-categories of vegetarian will not. Some wont do it for health reasons; others wont for ethical reasons. Whatever the case, you can get around this problem by either creating more dishes that do not contain milk and eggs or by using egg replacer, which you can find at most supermarkets, and milk replacements, such as soy milk.
4. Do you eat honey and yeast?
   Some vegetarians do not eat honey and yeast for ethical reasons. If you find out that the vegetarian in your family does not eat honey and yeast ahead of time, you can either prepare alternate dishes or ask if they are willing to bring an alternate dish.
5. Would you like to bring your own main dish (to replace the turkey, ham, etc.)?
   Many vegetarians eat popular meat-replacement dishes, such as "tofurkey" and "veggie burgers." Your guest willprobably be more than willing to bring her own meat-replacement dish if you ask.

To reiterate, there are a number of things you should take into consideration when you cook for a vegetarian this holiday season; however, the single most important thing you can do is actually approach the vegetarian and ask how you can accommodate her and if she would like to cook with you or bring her own dish.

If you keep this in mind, your holiday meal will be a success with everyone - even the vegetarian in your family!

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What Is Vegetarian Cheese?

Vegetarian cheese is cheese that is not curdled with rennet, an enzyme that occurs naturally in animal stomachs. Most vegetarian cheeses are curdled with either plants, fungi, or bacteria.

Vegetarians who do not consume cheese with rennet generally choose not to because it involves slaughtering animals to extract the enzymes.

Vegetarian cheese is hard to distinguish from cheese made with rennet. This lack of distinguisability often forces vegetarians who are ethically-opposed to harming animals to consume cheeses that contain rennet.

Even though more cheeses are being made with vegetable rennet, it is usually impossible to spot the difference, unless the package is clearly labeled "vegetarian cheese." Recently, some grocery stores have started doing this to aid vegetarian shoppers, who would not otherwise be able to distinguish the difference between the vegetable and animal rennet cheeses.

In addition to eating cheeses made with vegetable rennet, there are more alternatives to eating regular cheese.

Vegans, for instance, do not consume cheese at all because it is an animal by product and subsequently requires animals to be caged and suffer. Many vegans, however, do consume cheese substitutes.

Chreese (www.chreese.com) is one of these substitutes. Chreese is an all natural, non-soy, cheese replacement that requires substantially less natural resources and energy to create than cheese with rennet.

And chreese is just one substitute. There are a number of other all natural alternatives you can find at local organic and health food stores.

If you are a vegetarian and you don't support animal suffering on your behalf in any capacity, you may also want to consider adjusting your dietary habits if you consume cheese made with animal rennet.

To reiterate, you have three basic options: you can look for grocery stores that label vegetarian cheese; you can purchase vegetarian cheese online; or you can purchase cheese alternatives online or at your local organic or health food store.

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Why Vegans Don't Eat Eggs

As a prospective vegan, you may be wondering exactly why vegans make the dietary choices they make. And you may also be hesitant to adopt these choices until you yourself understand and accept them.

In this article, I will explain the two major vegetarian positions on eating eggs to help you make your decision.

The sub-category of vegetarian I will cover, ovo-vegetarians, accept the normal consumption of eggs because they do not believe that doing so conflicts with an ethical vegetarian diet. They do not see eggs as living things and subsequently do not make the connection between consuming eggs and causing animal suffering or death.

In addition to this, many ovo-vegetarians see complete veganism as limiting their options unnecessarily, especially when eggs are an excellent source of complete protein and a viable nutritional alternative to meat.

Many vegetarians who do consume eggs opt for "free range"eggs over normal--or "battery"--eggs. This is usually out of ethical concern for the treatment of egg-laying hens.

Vegans, by contrast, do not consume eggs normally and generally oppose the institution altogether. They argue that purchasing "battery hen" eggs supports an institution that cages up to nine birds together, debeaks them, and forces them to continually lay eggs until they are calcium-depleted and on the verge of death--at which point, they are slaughtered.

In addition, vegans also go further to disapprove of "free range" eggs, which do not require a hen to be caged. They argue that most free range hens are actually packed into houses, where they have minimal access to the outside.

They also note that even producing "free range" eggs requires having fertile eggs--half of which will hatch into male chicks, which will then be slaughtered after birth or fed to a certain weight only to be culled.

In addition to these two positions, there are also vegetarians who don’t consume eggs for other reasons. Some of these vegetarians don’t eat eggs because they are high in cholesterol; and others do not consume them because they believe that the animal farming institution contributes to environmental degradation.

Take some time to determine where you stand--ethically and nutritionally--and then make your decision from there.

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Why Vegans Don't Consume Dairy Products

As with most dietary questions, vegans are split on the issue of dairy products--not so much on the question of whether or not they are acceptable, but instead for what reasons they should not be consumed.

All vegans (or at least true vegans) abstain from consuming dairy products. Some do so for nutritional reasons; others abstain for ethical reasons.

Those who do it for nutritional reasons cite a range of health problems related to the consumption of dairy products, including high cholesterol. Many also have a problem digesting lactose or have a blood-iron or diabetic problem related to milk protein, casein. In addition to this, milk and cheese often contain small portions of undesirable hormones that are added to dairy cow feeds to increase production.

Those who abstain from consuming dairy products for ethical reasons also have a range of reasons for doing so.

Some cite the poor treatment of dairy cows as a main reason for not consuming milk and cheese. They note that dairy cows are forced to become pregnant once each year to maintain a constantly high yield of milk. They are also fed numerous steroids to increase production.

Others who abstain for ethical reasons often cite the maltreatment of dairy cow offspring. They note that calves are not allowed to spend time with or suckle from the mother, but instead are prematurely removed to be reared for either veal production, beef production, or as replacement dairy cows.

The calves selected for "veal" production are often forced to live in crates so tiny that they cannot turn around. They must face in one direction; they cannot groom themeselves; and they are fed hormone-laden feed until they are sent off to be slaughtered.

If you are a prospective vegan, you may want to take some time now to think about what is best for you. Ask yourself whether you wanted to become a vegan for ethical reasons, dietary reasons, or both. And from there, determine whether or not these arguments were strong enough to compel you to do so. Either way, you should emerge with a stronger viewpoint and a better understanding of what you do and do not want.

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How To Make A Vegan Cake

Do you have a strict vegan in the family who has a birthday or celebration coming up that traditionally calls for cake? If you’re not familiar with vegan dietary practices, you might not know what vegans do not eat. Even worse, you might have no idea how to replace what they do not eat.

But don't worry. In a few short paragraphs, I’ll explain exactly what you need to make the perfect cake for your vegan friend or relative. And best of all, no one will be able to taste the difference.

Let’s start with what strict vegans do not eat. They do not eat eggs. They do not drink milk. They don’t eat certain types of sugar. They don’t eat butter. And they don’t eat frosting.

Eggs can be replaced by "EnerG Egg Replacer," which you can purchase at many grocery stores. The box will explain how much replacer to use per egg.

Cow’s milk can be replaced by organic rice milk, which doesn’t contain any animal byproducts. You can buy rice milk at your local grocery store, too.

Many vegans do not consume sugar, either, because it is often whitened by animal bone char. You can avoid sugar that is whitened by bone char by purchasing "unbleached" sugar, sugar in the raw, or beet sugar. There are some cane sugars, too, which were not whitened using bone char, but they hard to distinguish from others, unless you know the exact name brand.

Strict vegans will not eat food made with butter, either. If your cake recipe calls for butter, you can simply replace it with margarine or vegetable shortening.

In addition to butter, sugar, milk, and eggs, strict vegans also will not eat dairy frosting. If your recipe calls for frosting, you can look for a similar flavor of "non-dairy" frosting or you can make your own, replacing butter with margarine.

And there you have it: an ingredient replacement key for your vegan cake. Simply follow the key, replace vegan-unfriendly items on your recipe, and your cake will be perfectly fit for even the strictest vegetarian!

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The Top Five Nutrients Vegetarians Lack

Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets have advantages. Vegetarian diets tend to be rich in antioxidants, certain vitamins, and healthy fats. Non-vegetarian diets, by contrast, tend to contain more protein, iron, zinc, calcium, and vitamin B-12.

If you already decided to adopt a vegetarian diet, it is essential you learn how to increase your intake and absorption of these nutrients to avoid short-term and long-term health complications.

In the next few paragraphs, I will explain how you can regularly assimilate larger portions of these nutrients into your regular diet:

1. Protein. Different types of protein are made up of different permutations of amino acid chains. In order to create a "complete protein" or a protein that can be assimilated into the human body as tissue, you must consume foods that contain complementary chains of amino acids.
Wheat, nuts, and beans are three types of vegan-friendly incomplete proteins; however, wheat is hard to digest and up to 50% of its protein is lost during the process.
Isolated soy protein, which you can get from a number of sources (including soy milk), can be digested efficiently-enough to match the animal protein yields.

2. Iron. Plant sources contain a significant amount of iron, but in nonheme form, which is more sensitive to inhibitors than iron that comes from animal products. You should do two things to increase your blood-iron levels:
a) consume more plant iron; and
b) avoid absorption inhibitors, such as tea, coffee, and fiber.

3. Zinc. Whereas non-vegetarian diets seem to enhance the absorption of zinc; vegetarian and vegan diets do the exact opposite--they inhibit it.

Nutritionists suggest that you can overcome this by consuming more foods that contain zinc, such as soybeans, cashews, and sunflower seeds while reducing your intake of inhibitors by washing vegetables and grains.

4. Calcium. While vegetarians can easily consume an adequate amount of calcium without any dietary additions, it is important that vegetarians avoid consuming certain foods that are high in oxalates, which inhibit calcium absorption.

Dietitians suggest that vegetarians do not consume spinach, beet greens, and swiss chard as the calcium component of a meal plan. While they are rich in calcium, they also contain high amounts of oxalates.

Rather than consuming those foods for calcium, vegetarians should consider other options, such as soy yogurt, tofu, beans, almonds, and calcium-fortified foods.

5. Vitamin B-12. Many vegetarians lack vitamin B-12 simply because it does not exist naturally in any non-animal forms. Vegetarians should seek out vitamin B-12 fortified foods, such as certain soy milks and cereals to supplement what they lack.

As I outlined, there are a number of nutrients vegetarians can lack of they do not research and plan. This is not meant to discourage people from becoming vegetarians, but instead to encourage them to spend time planning a health approach to their vegetarian diet before starting it.

When planned adequately, a vegetarian diet can not only make up for what it lacks from animal products, but it can far exceed the healthfulness of most non-vegetarian diets.

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Important Non-Meat Sources Of Protein For Vegetarians

Although most vegetarians consume a considerable amount of protein, they often do not absorb as much as they would on a nonvegetarian diet. This is because plant proteins are considerably less digestible than animal proteins, which contain amino acid chains that are closer or identical to human amino acid chains.

Consuming animal proteins might yield close to a 1:1 absorption ratio, while consuming plant proteins, such as wheat, might only yield 50% of the amino acids needed to build a "complete protein" or a protein that can readily be assimilated into the human body.

In order for vegetarians to absorb a healthy amount of protein, they must consume a variety of plant proteins to form complete amino chains. By eating vegetables, legumes, seeds, nuts, fruits, and whole grains, vegetarians can increase the amount of complete proteins they create by combining a number of varieties of amino acid chains.

Vegetarians must also consume more foods that contain proteins because plant proteins are generally harder to digest. While a nutritional label may suggest that pasta has 5 grams of protein per serving; you may only be able to digest 2-3 grams of that protein, which means you must complement the pasta with other sources of protein.

In addition to natural sources of protein, vegetarians should also seek foods that are "protein-fortified"-- or artificially-infused with protein.

For example, many supermarkets offer a variety "protein-fortified" pasta and bread. I have seen pasta that contains as much as 12 grams of protein per serving.

Soy milk is also a good source of protein for vegetarians. Studies on isolated soy protein show that it can be absorbed nearly as well as animal proteins, yielding close to a 1:1 protein absorption ratio.

For non-vegan vegetarians, yogurt, milk, and eggs (which contain complete proteins) are all excellent sources of protein.

As a vegetarian you have a number of options to boost your protein intake - and you should consider taking advantage of all of them. You should diversify your food selections, drink more soy products, and eat "protein-fortified" breads and pasta.

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Cooking With Tofu

If you aren’t a vegetarian now and haven’t been one in the past, you probably also haven’t eaten tofu many times. In fact, the only time most people hear about tofu it is in jokes aimed at vegetarians.

So why is it that vegetarians eat this stuff all the time? Is is it simply because they have no other choice?

The answer is both yes and no.

Being a vegetarian doesn’t mean you have to eat tofu. In fact, there are many vegetarians who never eat tofu or any popular meat-replacement dishes--such as "veggie burgers" or "tofurkey"--for that matter.

As long as they research and create meal plans, vegetarians can maintain a healthy diet eating traditional meals or ethnic dishes.

Tofu is often cited as something exclusively vegetarian because it is a versatile, highly-nutritional, and can be used to replace meat dishes.

Not only can it be created in textures, consistencies, and flavors that simulate a range of meats--from turkey to hamburg--but it can also actually replace and far exceed the nutritional value of similar meat dishes.

While vegetarians do not actually need to consume tofu, doing so is often a wise dietary choice--and also the next best thing to eating similar meat products (for those who enjoyed meat dishes before they became vegetarians).

Tofu is a low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-calorie food made out of steamed and compressed soy beans. Not only is it a great source of protein--which many vegetarians lack--but it is also heart-healthy and has been linked to a decreased risk in cancer.

In addition to being served as a meat alternative, tofu is also served in a number of spicy and ethnic dishes, which were never intended to contain meat. Many ethnic Indian dishes contain large amounts of tofu cooked and spiced in different ways.

So here is my suggestion to you: If you aren’t already a vegetarian, but want to become one, don’t let tofu get in your way. You can maintain a healthy vegetarian diet without ever eating it. However, if you already are a vegetarian, but haven’t tried tofu, I highly suggest you do. It is both nutritional and versatile - and it might not taste as bad as you think.

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