Getting Started as a Vegan

Trying to create a new eating habit and switch to Veganism is something that more people are attempting to do each year.  From a lifestyle that used to be quite uncommon, it has grown into a much more popular option and is finding a massive amount of support in all walks of life.  People who work two jobs, people who live in multi-million dollar houses and even the rebelling teenager down the block are all likely to be vegans at this point.  With so many people turning to veganism it is no doubt that you have wondered exactly what it would mean for yourself as well.

Most people think that veganism is exactly like vegetarianism.  However, this is actually highly incorrect; they are two completely separate ideas that only share a few similarities.  Typically speaking vegetarianism is a much easier lifestyle to adopt and is much less rigid.  Vegan is much stricter and can be much harder for someone to change to on a quick basis.  This can make it extremely complicated to actually change to vegan living immediately.

In order to get the biggest benefits out of living as a vegan it is very important to follow all of the guidelines. This means avoiding all foods and food products that include animals, or are made from animal parts.  This includes meat, honey, milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt and other similar products.  A true Vegan diet will consist on massive quantities of breads, vegetables, fruits, pastas and other similar foods.  This can be an extremely different diet for someone to adopt that is used to eating large quantities of meat and could be a bit difficult at first.

Working to make some slow changes is typically recommended to make the entire process as simple as possible.  Of course, the idea of a single massive change might sound easier, but in reality this is typically a lot harder and is associated with a substantially increase risk of failing to really follow through with the vegan lifestyle.  Rather the smaller changes are better since they will lay the foundation for permanent changes.

Not everyone finds the process of switching to Vegan to be a disaster.  There are some people who do switch to the new diet with no problems or complications at all.  However, typically the people who switch the easiest will generally be those who consume small amounts of meat and other animal products on a normal basis.  This makes it much easier for them to adopt the new lifestyle with the fewest amount of complication.  If you discover that you are having a problem adjusting to the new dietary requirements you should always take some time to see if there are any small changes you can make to your life to make things easier.

These small changes might seem really minor but they can potentially help you substantially.  Waiting until you have completely failed the diet can be a crushing experience.  Seeking out as much help as possible as quickly as possible is instead a fabulous way to proceed and is typically quite easy to do.  A few minutes of your time is all that is required, the results are well worth the effort and you will be glad you took that time as well.  Your new Vegan lifestyle awaits you, as long as you are able to manage the transition.

What Exactly is Vegan?

There are so many different phrases and slang terms that are used to describe a healthier lifestyle that often it is virtually impossible to determine exactly what Vegan is and what it is not.  In order to fully understand something it is vital that you be fully aware of what is expected and for many Vegan is just an insult if they are confused accidently with another type of eating style.

The primary difference between a Vegan lifestyle and that of a typical person primarily is the lack of meat consumed in a Vegan lifestyle.  However, many people believe that vegetarians will still eat dairy products and other similar foods.  While this is correct, it is a major difference between vegetarian and vegan.  People who are true Vegans do not eat any animal related products, they do not encourage the consumption of animal related products and they also do not wear any animal related products.  This would include items such as milk, yogurt, butter, eggs, leather clothing and also anything that can cause harm to animals during production.

Many people mistakenly believe that Vegetarianism and Veganism are the exact same thing.  However, those who are vegetarian will consume animal related products such as eggs, milk, dairy, yogurt and other similar foods that do not particular cause the animals life to be in danger.  Foods such as meat are still avoided though.  This is a significant difference from Vegan’s who do not consume such foods.  In order to really determine which type of lifestyle is best for you and your family, you would need to look over your typical eating habits.  Many people discover that Vegan is something that is far too strict for them to abide by on a normal basis and instead opt for a vegetarian lifestyle instead.

Choosing to live a Vegan lifestyle is not always easy.  It can make things a bit complicated when it is time to plan meals, as well as will typically involve a bit more planning ahead since you will not be able to easily pull everything for meals straight from the freezer.  While it is still possible to use some frozen foods in the Vegan lifestyle, many fruits and vegetables simply do not taste the same once they have been frozen.  If this is a problem that you are encountering it may be necessary to invest some money into planting a garden that you can use to obtain many of your foods so that they will always be fresh.

It is not necessary under any circumstances to think that you absolutely must take the time to grow a massive garden as well.  Many people work with only a small garden growing a very limited supply and quantity of foods until they are able to devote more space to their homegrown foods.  What becomes a frequent problem is many people do not realize that they really can start their garden with only a small supply.  If you wait until you have the room to add a massive garden you will be severely discounting many of the delicious benefits that really are possible to achieve.

By making some small steps and changes to your lifestyle you might find that working on a vegetarian lifestyle is much easier for you to handle initially.  This can make a great starting point when you are working to move to a healthier vegan lifestyle for your entire family.  If you are busy trying to ensure that you are fully aware of all of the benefits then knowing all of the differences between vegetarianism and veganism is very important.  Working to improve your health as much as possible is extremely important and really is possible as long as you take the time to really study your options.  A healthy lifestyle is possible, even if you are not comfortable with the idea of converting over to an entirely vegan way of life.

12 Foods You Should Never Eat for Breakfast

We’ve all heard it before. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This meal will set the tone for the rest of your day, so you want to do it right. Would you be surprised to hear that you have most likely been doing it wrong all along?

That’s right - the types of food you most likely think of when you think of breakfast are probably the last things you want to eat for breakfast. You need food rich in vitamins to get your day started right, not food that is going to weigh you down.

Sure, you’re starving in the morning. It’s natural to want to go for that quick refill, but while this food might fill you up, it most certainly does not charge you and get you ready to take on the day. So here are twelve foods you’ll want to think twice about when you wake up in the morning.

Twelve Foods Not to Eat for Breakfast

1. Pancakes, waffles, and French toast - Say it ain’t so. Who doesn’t love a big, syrupy pancake breakfast in the morning? Your body, that’s who. Pancakes, waffles, and French toast are not good to have first thing in the morning. All of those carbs and sugar are not the way you want to get your day going.

2. Pastries - Donuts, Danishes and other pastries are not your best friend in the morning. Lots of sugar but little fiber makes for a rapid rise in blood sugar. This is not the way you want to start your day because it won’t be long before you have a sugar crash.

3. Bagels - What, now we can’t even have a bagel and a schmear in the morning? What is this world coming to? Like the other pastries, bagels will give you that great big high, but a very quick low. Before long you’ll be hungry for more, but you’ll also be bloated and possibly even constipated. So just skip the bagel.

4. Breakfast smoothies - Okay, not all breakfast smoothies are created equal. There are some that are a good choice, but you want to stay away from processed ingredients. Breakfast smoothies created with fruit juices, ice cream, chocolate syrups and powders, agave nectar, protein powders, or non-organic peanut butter are not doing you any favors. You need a breakfast smoothie that is going to be rich in nutrients with ingredients like fresh fruits and vegetables, chia seeds, and coconut milk.

5. Boxed cereals - And we always thought that if you ate your Wheaties every morning you would become an Olympic athlete. The problem with most boxed cereals is they are loaded with sugar and artificial flavoring. Cereals like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Fruit Loops, Lucky Charms, and Honey Nut Cheerios have lots of ingredients listed that just aren’t good for you. If you stick with the organic cereals and ones with a few ingredients (without sugar at the top of the list), then you’re fine.

6. Bacon and Eggs, or Sausage and Eggs - This protein-filled breakfast has been a go-to for people for many years. But it is high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein, which do nothing good for your digestive system. It will just leave you feeling slow and moody in the morning, which is not how you want to start your day.

7. Muffins - AKA mini cakes. Usually packed with artificial sweeteners and processed ingredients, these yummy foods will cause a spike in your blood sugar like many of its other pastry-like counterparts. If you can’t do without your muffin then make your own out of gluten free flour, and use applesauce instead of oil and bananas to sweeten them.

8. Granola bars - Another food that unless you make it yourself you probably want to avoid. Store-bought granola bars might seem healthy, but they are often filled with fats and unhealthy sugars.

9. Yogurt - The dairy in yogurt is not a good way to start your day. It triggers the release of mucus from your body which can result in a phlegmy cough and runny nose. This is another example of a time when making your own is best. Making a yogurt out of coconut or almond milk will be a much better alternative.

10. Breakfast sandwiches - This goes back to the protein-packed bacon and eggs. Same idea here. They don’t have fiber and nutrients, and are very high in fat, sodium, and sugar.

11. Toast - There just are not enough nutrients to make this a good breakfast food and way to start your day. If you truly cannot do without toast, then opt for a gluten free option for your bread.

12. Instant Oatmeal - This highly processed version of oatmeal is packed with added sugar and flavoring and almost no fiber to get your day started right. Opt for rolled oats or steel cut oats the next time you want oatmeal for breakfast.

Stay away from these breakfast options in the morning and you are sure to have a much brighter start to your day every morning.

Turmeric… Helps Fight Diabetes

It’s no exaggeration to state that diabetes is a colossal health epidemic in the United States.

In their 2014 National Report, the CDC estimates that 29.1 million people have diabetes, which represents an alarming 9.3% of the US population.

The unfortunate truth is that you don’t even need to be gorging yourself on sugar and processed junk food to be at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. Many cases occur in healthy individuals who have simply worn away their pancreas’s insulin sensitivity with years of slight overconsumption of insulin-spiking foods and beverages.

You could already be pre-diabetic without even knowing it. Symptoms include fatigue, erratic energy levels, high blood pressure, and accumulated belly fat.

The good news is that, despite the frightening rate at which Type 2 diabetes is spreading, it is easily preventable and reversible.

It all starts with keeping a clean, healthy diet that’s high in healthy fats and vegetables, and low in insulin-spiking foods like fruit, bread and grains, and sugary treats.

While everyone’s optimal dietary needs will differ slightly, there’s one spice that anyone looking to prevent or reverse diabetes should integrate into their diet on a daily basis — turmeric.

This incredible root is a true diabetes-fighting superstar; recent studies have shown that turmeric extract is effective at helping fight Type 2 diabetes.

Research has shown that turmeric does reduce many of the inflammatory signals known to be overactive in diabetes and improves the action of disrupted insulin-response pathways.

Turmeric has been show to be strongly anti-inflammatory...

Turmeric’s potency has compared favorably to anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical drugs… except without the side effects.

But not all forms of turmeric are created equal…

Most of the turmeric supplements you see in stores come in the form of encapsulated powders. The truth is with turmeric powder you may be getting very little actual benefit.

Turmeric powder has a fairly low bioavailability (meaning that a good portion of it isn’t properly absorbed by your body), it often isn’t very fresh, and it’s sometimes made with harsh processes that can destroy or degrade turmeric’s healthful components.

Because turmeric is hard to absorb, it must be formulated in a certain way allowing the body to absorb and utilize its entire spectrum of nutrients.

There's another NEW form of turmeric that actually tastes amazing AND is easy to absorb...

TurmericPuraTHRIVE Organic Turmeric Extract is an outstanding full-spectrum extract that’s “liposomalized”—meaning it’s specifically blended to make the turmeric bind to phosphlipids (fats) that increase its bioavailability 10 to 20 times!

This formulation takes all that raw turmeric has to offer and presents it in a format that your body LOVES to consume.

==> Give this truly revolutionary product a try… you won’t believe how quickly you feel its effects. Once you do, you’ll wonder why you didn’t make turmeric a part of your daily life a long time ago.

The Healthiest Foods You Can Get

The following is a list of the healthiest foods that you can get.  This will help you get an idea as to what foods are the best for your body.

Fruits

Apricots

Apricots contain Beta-carotene which helps to prevent radical damage and also helps to protect the eyes. A single apricot contains 17 calories, 0 fat, and one gram of fiber. You can eat them dried or soft.

Mango

A medium sized mango packs 57 MG of vitamin C, which is nearly your entire daily dose. This antioxidant will help prevent arthritis and also boost your immune system.

Cantaloupe

Cantaloupes contain 117 GG of vitamin C, which is almost twice the recommended dose.  Half a melon contains 853 MG of potassium, which is nearly twice as much as a banana, which helps to lower blood pressure.  Half a melon contains 97 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 2 grams of fiber.

Tomato

A tomato can help cut the risk of bladder, stomach, and colon cancers in half if you eat one daily. A tomato contains 26 calories, 0 fat, and only 1 gram of fiber.

Vegetables

Onions

An onion can help to protect against cancer. A cup of onions offers 61 calories, 0 fat, and 3 grams of fiber.

Broccoli

Broccoli can help protect against breast cancer, and it also contains a lot of vitamin C and beta-carotene. One cup of chopped broccoli contains 25 calories, 0 fat, and 3 grams of fiber.

Spinach

Spinach contains carotenoids that can help fend off macular degeneration, which is a major cause of blindness in older people.  One cup contains 7 calories, 0 fat, and 1 gram of fiber.





Grains, beans, and nuts

Peanuts

Peanuts and other nuts can lower your risk of heart disease by 20 percent.  One ounce contains 166 calories, 14 grams of fat, and over 2 grams of fiber.

Pinto beans

A half cut of pinto beans offers more than 25 percent of your daily folate requirement, which protects you against heart disease.  Half a cup contains 103 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 6 grams of fiber.

Skim milk

Skim milk offers vitamin B2, which is important for good vision and along with Vitamin A could improve allergies. You also get calcium and vitamin D as well.  One cup contains 86 calories, o fat, and 0 fiber.

Seafood

Salmon

All cold water fish such as salmon, mackerel, and tuna are excellent sources of omega 3 fatty acids, which help to reduce the risk of cardiac disease. A 3 ounce portion of salmon contains 127 calories, 4 grams of fat, and 0 fiber.

Crab

Crab is a great source of vitamin B12 and immunity boosting zinc.  A 3 ounce serving of crab offers 84 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 0 fiber.