Re: Health Attributes of Vegan Foods

[Guest guest]

Why look for prepared Vegan food products? Why didn't you serve what

you usually eat? Your diet is unrefined plant-based is it not?

>

>

> Hi folks:

>

> We have some friends who recently became vegans. This is a long story

> which I will refrain from telling here. For a start they may have

> joined for all I know. And might recognize themselves

> from my description of them!

>

> When they came to dinner a couple of weeks ago we made an effort to

> serve them vegan foods. One thing we did was go to the leading

> supplier of vegan food products in this big city and buy a selection of

> stuff to serve.

>

> Two products are of note. We bought three vegan patés. On perusing

> the ingredient lists long after they had left I see the following:

> largest ingredient is water; second largest is palm kernel oil; next

> largest ingredient is yeast, which presumably is added in a small

> quantity.

>

> From this it appears these products are essentially palm kernel oil (the

> absolutely worst stuff second only behind hydrogenated fats) with

> enough water added to emulsify it, plus a few flavorings.

>

> The second product was a vegan ice cream. It is called " Tofutti " no

> doubt trying to give the impression it is made from tofu? The

> ingredients list says the six largest components are: " water; sugar

> [empty calories] ; corn oil [carcinogenic empty fat calories]; corn

> syrup [more empty calories, perhaps also carcinogenic?]; soy proteins

> and tofu [plenty more fat calories]. "

>

> Seems to me, based on the above, that the study previously posted here

> which compared the health of vegans with that of health-conscious

> omnivores, should also have separated out the health-conscious vegans

> from the others.

>

> Little wonder vegans are no healthier, if they think it is fine to eat

> this kind of stuff, and the leading retailers of it think so too.

>

> Rodney.

>

[Guest guest]

Rod: there are any number of dishes you could have served without resorting to prepared foods:

Meatless pasta

Vegetable stew with tofu

Ratatouille

Meatless Rice based dishes (fried rice, spanish rice, curried rice)

Asian Stir fry with tofu instead of meat

Tacos or fajitas with rice, salsa, lettuce tomatoes, guacamole, beans

Vegetarian chili

Vegetable soup and salad

And probably a good deal ideas more from our recipes section (under “links”)

From: bill4cr <bill4cr@...>

Reply-< >

Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:55:18 -0000

< >

Subject: [ ] Re: Health Attributes of Vegan Foods

Why look for prepared Vegan food products? Why didn't you serve what

you usually eat? Your diet is unrefined plant-based is it not?

>

>

> Hi folks:

>

> We have some friends who recently became vegans. This is a long story

> which I will refrain from telling here. For a start they may have

> joined for all I know. And might recognize themselves

> from my description of them!

>

> When they came to dinner a couple of weeks ago we made an effort to

> serve them vegan foods. One thing we did was go to the leading

> supplier of vegan food products in this big city and buy a selection of

> stuff to serve.

>

> Two products are of note. We bought three vegan patés. On perusing

> the ingredient lists long after they had left I see the following:

> largest ingredient is water; second largest is palm kernel oil; next

> largest ingredient is yeast, which presumably is added in a small

> quantity.

>

> From this it appears these products are essentially palm kernel oil (the

> absolutely worst stuff second only behind hydrogenated fats) with

> enough water added to emulsify it, plus a few flavorings.

>

> The second product was a vegan ice cream. It is called " Tofutti " no

> doubt trying to give the impression it is made from tofu? The

> ingredients list says the six largest components are: " water; sugar

> [empty calories] ; corn oil [carcinogenic empty fat calories]; corn

> syrup [more empty calories, perhaps also carcinogenic?]; soy proteins

> and tofu [plenty more fat calories]. "

>

> Seems to me, based on the above, that the study previously posted here

> which compared the health of vegans with that of health-conscious

> omnivores, should also have separated out the health-conscious vegans

> from the others.

>

> Little wonder vegans are no healthier, if they think it is fine to eat

> this kind of stuff, and the leading retailers of it think so too.

>

> Rodney.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Bill:

When I invite guests to dinner I try to prepare something that will be at least somewhat memorable. What I eat during the week I believe to be healthy, but certainly not memorable. These guests in particular enjoy, and themselves serve guests, a meal with recipes with an exotic twist to them - which is not what I generally eat when there are no guests because I don't care to spend the preparation time that is required.

For example, serving people coming to dinner what I have eaten, and will be eating today, would not be impressive. Lemon tea, mango, nuts, bean soup, turkey curry, with rice and steamed green vegetable, and possibly a sweet potato, while quick and uncomplicated, and probably fine in a corporate cafeteria, is a bit too mundane to serve to invited dinner guests, imo.

Many of the recipes I cook for myself contain animal products so must be adapted to be vegan-friendly. Even, for example, the asparagus soup I served, which I happily eat on a CRON diet, had to have the chicken stock substituted out of it. And I do not have a recipe for a paté without animal products, although I have experimented and found it to be time consuming and the results unreliable. Nor vegan icecream, to go with the fruit it was served with for dessert.

Rodney.

> >> > > > Hi folks:> > > > We have some friends who recently became vegans. This is a long story> > which I will refrain from telling here. For a start they may have> > joined for all I know. And might recognize themselves> > from my description of them!> > > > When they came to dinner a couple of weeks ago we made an effort to> > serve them vegan foods. One thing we did was go to the leading> > supplier of vegan food products in this big city and buy a selection of> > stuff to serve.> > > > Two products are of note. We bought three vegan patés. On perusing> > the ingredient lists long after they had left I see the following: > > largest ingredient is water; second largest is palm kernel oil; next> > largest ingredient is yeast, which presumably is added in a small> > quantity.> > > > From this it appears these products are essentially palm kernel oil (the> > absolutely worst stuff second only behind hydrogenated fats) with> > enough water added to emulsify it, plus a few flavorings.> > > > The second product was a vegan ice cream. It is called "Tofutti" no> > doubt trying to give the impression it is made from tofu? The> > ingredients list says the six largest components are: "water; sugar> > [empty calories] ; corn oil [carcinogenic empty fat calories]; corn> > syrup [more empty calories, perhaps also carcinogenic?]; soy proteins> > and tofu [plenty more fat calories]. "> > > > Seems to me, based on the above, that the study previously posted here> > which compared the health of vegans with that of health-conscious> > omnivores, should also have separated out the health-conscious vegans> > from the others.> > > > Little wonder vegans are no healthier, if they think it is fine to eat> > this kind of stuff, and the leading retailers of it think so too.> > > > Rodney.> >>

[Guest guest]

> When they came to dinner a couple of weeks ago we made an effort to

> serve them vegan foods. One thing we did was go to the leading

> supplier of vegan food products in this big city and buy a selection

> of stuff to serve.

>

Mental Note To Self: If Rodney ever invites me over for a vegan

dinner, kindly refuse.

[Guest guest]

Hi folks:

Clarification on a couple of points.

First, the purpose of my original post was not to lament the lack of vegan recipes one might possibly cook, but instead to point out the nature of some of the foods vegans, and those who sell foods to vegans, apparently think are fine to eat. I learned a lot from this exercise about why vegans do not live any longer than health-conscious non-vegans despite the well known health issues associated with with many animal products.

As Jeff Novick so often says: saying someone is vegetarian or vegan does not tell you what they eat, it tells you what they do not eat. And if many of them eat much of the stuff I described, then no wonder the not-overwhelmingly-favorable study results, and why some vegetarians I know are far from slim.

Second, the purpose of serving some vegan ready-prepared products was for our guests and us to become more acquainted with the types of vegan foods that are available from serious vegan food outlets. The same remarks apply. We learned a lot ........ best not to touch many of these products with a ten foot pole.

Rodney.

> >> > > > Hi folks:> > > > We have some friends who recently became vegans. This is a long story> > which I will refrain from telling here. For a start they may have> > joined for all I know. And might recognize themselves> > from my description of them!> > > > When they came to dinner a couple of weeks ago we made an effort to> > serve them vegan foods. One thing we did was go to the leading> > supplier of vegan food products in this big city and buy a selection of> > stuff to serve.> > > > Two products are of note. We bought three vegan patés. On perusing> > the ingredient lists long after they had left I see the following:> > largest ingredient is water; second largest is palm kernel oil; next> > largest ingredient is yeast, which presumably is added in a small> > quantity.> > > > From this it appears these products are essentially palm kernel oil (the> > absolutely worst stuff second only behind hydrogenated fats) with> > enough water added to emulsify it, plus a few flavorings.> > > > The second product was a vegan ice cream. It is called "Tofutti" no> > doubt trying to give the impression it is made from tofu? The> > ingredients list says the six largest components are: "water; sugar> > [empty calories] ; corn oil [carcinogenic empty fat calories]; corn> > syrup [more empty calories, perhaps also carcinogenic?]; soy proteins> > and tofu [plenty more fat calories]. "> > > > Seems to me, based on the above, that the study previously posted here> > which compared the health of vegans with that of health-conscious> > omnivores, should also have separated out the health-conscious vegans> > from the others.> > > > Little wonder vegans are no healthier, if they think it is fine to eat> > this kind of stuff, and the leading retailers of it think so too.> > > > Rodney.> >>

[Guest guest]

Yes, remember... a huge $2 bag of potato chips from Lays or Pringles is 100% vegan! Vegans can gain weight easily. And there is definitely a substantial culture of vegans that are completely unconcerned about health - I was once invited to a vegan fast food restaurant in Brooklyn, and I was SURE they were violating NYC's ban on trans-fats in restaurants all over the place. Even the salads were loaded with empty, toxic calories - sugars and bad fats.

MvL

[Guest guest]

Rodney:

In discussing " Health Attributes of Vegan Foods, " wouldn't it be more

reasonable to discuss the foods that are staples vs. the occasional

indulgences? Even those of us on CRON indulge in not-so-healthy foods

once in a while, but I wouldn't use those foods to characterize our

usual diets.

-Dave

>

>

> Hi folks:

>

> We have some friends who recently became vegans. This is a long story

> which I will refrain from telling here. For a start they may have

> joined for all I know. And might recognize themselves

> from my description of them!

>

> When they came to dinner a couple of weeks ago we made an effort to

> serve them vegan foods. One thing we did was go to the leading

> supplier of vegan food products in this big city and buy a selection of

> stuff to serve.

>

> Two products are of note. We bought three vegan patés. On perusing

> the ingredient lists long after they had left I see the following:

> largest ingredient is water; second largest is palm kernel oil; next

> largest ingredient is yeast, which presumably is added in a small

> quantity.

>

> From this it appears these products are essentially palm kernel oil (the

> absolutely worst stuff second only behind hydrogenated fats) with

> enough water added to emulsify it, plus a few flavorings.

>

> The second product was a vegan ice cream. It is called " Tofutti " no

> doubt trying to give the impression it is made from tofu? The

> ingredients list says the six largest components are: " water; sugar

> [empty calories] ; corn oil [carcinogenic empty fat calories]; corn

> syrup [more empty calories, perhaps also carcinogenic?]; soy proteins

> and tofu [plenty more fat calories]. "

>

> Seems to me, based on the above, that the study previously posted here

> which compared the health of vegans with that of health-conscious

> omnivores, should also have separated out the health-conscious vegans

> from the others.

>

> Little wonder vegans are no healthier, if they think it is fine to eat

> this kind of stuff, and the leading retailers of it think so too.

>

> Rodney.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Dave:

Well Dave, I had been under the impression that vegans and vegetarians are 'in to' eating healthy foods.

Those foods are manufactured specifically for vegans, sold to retailers who are some of the biggest in the world into vegan and vegetarian foods, and are sold to end users not as special treats but as foods that are supposed to be suitable for vegans specifically.

As you doubtless know, the Seventh Day Adventist religious group is probably the world's largest advocate of vegetarian diets. They have published many studies advocating how healthy a vegetarian diet is supposed to be, some of which have been posted here, including a couple posted by me. Those foods were bought from them. THEY stocked these foods in their vegetarian food store presumably because they believed them to be suitable, not because they knew them to be incredibly unhealthy but OK to be eaten as treats.

It is beyond belief to me that anyone could imagine that a product which, apart from the water in it, is almost entirely palm kernel oil could be anything but dangerous. Yet the producers have gone to a lot of trouble to manufacture these foods specifically for vegans. And they have been accepted as appropriate products in a store that specializes in finding and supplying supposedly healthy vegetarian and vegan products.

So it seems to me that either we here are 'completely out to lunch' about what constitutes a healthy diet or they are.

Rodney.> >> > > > Hi folks:> > > > We have some friends who recently became vegans. This is a long story> > which I will refrain from telling here. For a start they may have> > joined for all I know. And might recognize themselves> > from my description of them!> > > > When they came to dinner a couple of weeks ago we made an effort to> > serve them vegan foods. One thing we did was go to the leading> > supplier of vegan food products in this big city and buy a selection of> > stuff to serve.> > > > Two products are of note. We bought three vegan patés. On perusing> > the ingredient lists long after they had left I see the following: > > largest ingredient is water; second largest is palm kernel oil; next> > largest ingredient is yeast, which presumably is added in a small> > quantity.> > > > From this it appears these products are essentially palm kernel oil (the> > absolutely worst stuff second only behind hydrogenated fats) with> > enough water added to emulsify it, plus a few flavorings.> > > > The second product was a vegan ice cream. It is called "Tofutti" no> > doubt trying to give the impression it is made from tofu? The> > ingredients list says the six largest components are: "water; sugar> > [empty calories] ; corn oil [carcinogenic empty fat calories]; corn> > syrup [more empty calories, perhaps also carcinogenic?]; soy proteins> > and tofu [plenty more fat calories]. "> > > > Seems to me, based on the above, that the study previously posted here> > which compared the health of vegans with that of health-conscious> > omnivores, should also have separated out the health-conscious vegans> > from the others.> > > > Little wonder vegans are no healthier, if they think it is fine to eat> > this kind of stuff, and the leading retailers of it think so too.> > > > Rodney.> >>

[Guest guest]

Rodney, it's quite possible that these food manufacturers are giving

the vegans just what they want. I've talked with many people, and not

all vegans, that believe palm and coconut oils are good for you. That

these are some sort of " superfod " . They've bought into the i-net hype

I suppose. And have failed to do their homework

> > >

> > >

> > > Hi folks:

> > >

> > > We have some friends who recently became vegans. This is a long

> story

> > > which I will refrain from telling here. For a start they may have

> > > joined for all I know. And might recognize themselves

> > > from my description of them!

> > >

> > > When they came to dinner a couple of weeks ago we made an effort to

> > > serve them vegan foods. One thing we did was go to the leading

> > > supplier of vegan food products in this big city and buy a selection

> of

> > > stuff to serve.

> > >

> > > Two products are of note. We bought three vegan patés. On

> perusing

> > > the ingredient lists long after they had left I see the following:

> > > largest ingredient is water; second largest is palm kernel oil; next

> > > largest ingredient is yeast, which presumably is added in a small

> > > quantity.

> > >

> > > From this it appears these products are essentially palm kernel oil

> (the

> > > absolutely worst stuff second only behind hydrogenated fats) with

> > > enough water added to emulsify it, plus a few flavorings.

> > >

> > > The second product was a vegan ice cream. It is called " Tofutti " no

> > > doubt trying to give the impression it is made from tofu? The

> > > ingredients list says the six largest components are: " water; sugar

> > > [empty calories] ; corn oil [carcinogenic empty fat calories]; corn

> > > syrup [more empty calories, perhaps also carcinogenic?]; soy

> proteins

> > > and tofu [plenty more fat calories]. "

> > >

> > > Seems to me, based on the above, that the study previously posted

> here

> > > which compared the health of vegans with that of health-conscious

> > > omnivores, should also have separated out the health-conscious

> vegans

> > > from the others.

> > >

> > > Little wonder vegans are no healthier, if they think it is fine to

> eat

> > > this kind of stuff, and the leading retailers of it think so too.

> > >

> > > Rodney.

> > >

> >

>