Sleep; Vegan Diet

[Guest guest]

- (a 9 hour sleeper trying to justify staying in bed that long!)

----------------------------------

, if you are trying to " justify " staying in bed for 9 hours, I

recommend the book, " The Promise of Sleep, " by Dr. Dement, a

world-renouned sleep researcher.

He says that the length of time you need to sleep is genetically

determined. If you are a 9-hour sleeper, so be it. This is most

likely very healthy for you. Growth hormone is produced while we

sleep, and those who don't sleep enough to meet their biological

needs have less growth hormone than they need. Also, stress hormone

(e.g. cortisol)levels are lowered when you get the amount of sleep

that allows you to wake up and feel rested. Studies by Dr. Eve Van

Cauter show that many college students need more than 8 hours of

sleep, and if they don't get it, their levels of stress hormones and

sympathetic nervous system activity ( " flight or fright " )is increased.

------------------------

" Dominick " wrote:

>

>. Recently (within the last year)

> there have been a couple of news stories indicating that the amount

of

Ø sleep a person needs decreases as they age

----------------------------------

Dominick, these news stories might be correct, however, in the book

mentioned above, Dr. Dement of Stanford University says that

sleep needs do not decrease as we age. What decreases is the ability

of the organism to achieve and maintain sleep. Many older persons are

sleep deprived, because they are not sleeping as much as when they

were younger.

----------------------------------------------------

I believe veganism is still rather controversial. Everything I've read

leads me to believe that it may potentially be very harmful to health.

Be careful...

-

----------------------------------

, I think you are correct that veganism can potentially be very

harmful to health. A vegan can be Vitamin B-12 deprived, and suffer

serious neurological damage as a result. A vegan may also be

deprived of many other nutrients, including protein.

However, I think that a knowledgeable vegan can avoid all these

risks, and potentially have a much healthier diet than non-vegans.

Good protein sources for vegans:

Soybeans

Beans and legumes

Whole grains

Nutritional or brewer's yeast

Nuts and seeds

Read what Dr. Walford has to say about the above foods.

Combining legumes with whole grains can give a vegan outstanding

protein quality and quantity. (Actually, this combining doesn't have

to be done at the same meal--just within 24 hours). Look up the

protein content of mung beans, or soybeans, or almost any bean----you

may be quite surprised.

Vitamin B12 can easily be supplemented for pennies a day, or one can

consume a brand of Nutritional Yeast that naturally has a high

Vit B12 content.

Walford's number one food recommendation, vegetables, can be consumed

in great variety and quantity.

Walford's number two food recommendation, beans, are mentioned above.

A diet consisting of lots of vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fruits

and nuts, with targeted supplementation, can be excellent.

There is more literature out there regarding " vegetarianism " than

there is regarding veganism. This literature shows that vegetarians

are much healthier, and have a far lower incidence of heart disease

(the #1 killer)than non-vegetarians.

What nutrients do you find lacking in a carefully planned vegan diet,

other than Vit B12?

Finally, one can construct different vegan diets with any proportions

of fats, carbohydrates and proteins that one wishes.