Vegetarians ( and Vegans ) Thread!!!

[FireTigeris]

Not exactly :


Quote:

It's barely January, but there's no doubt what one of 2007's hottest food additives will be: omega-3.

The name may sound like a sci-fi film, but omega-3 — fatty acids found, for example, in fish and some nuts and oils — are increasingly being added to other foods, often via fish oil or flax seeds.
Tropicana this month will roll out the first national orange juice with omega-3. Kellogg put it into a Kashi cereal. Unilever put it in I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.

ON DEADLINE: The AHA's recommendations on Omega-3 and more
Food marketers' primary target is the 79 million baby boomers, because omega-3 has been shown to cut risks of heart disease and maybe other diseases, including Alzheimer's. Four in 10 adults are seeking more omega-3s in their diets, according to a HealthFocus USA Trend Survey.
"It's become the miracle food," says Maureen Putman, marketing chief at The Hain Celestial Group, which puts omega-3 in Health Valley cereal. It's also about to add it to an Earth's Best infant formula, since some studies show it can aid in brain development.
Two years ago, omega-3 showed up in 120 new food products, but in 2006, it appeared in about 250, estimates Mintel, the product research specialist.
"Omega-3 is the hot ingredient," says Lynn Dornblaser, analyst at Mintel.
The American Heart Association and the Food and Drug Administration give omega-3 a thumbs-up. Not all nutritionists, however, encourage consuming it as an additive rather than in foods such as salmon, where it is found naturally. "It isn't good nutrition to cram a lot of ingredients into a single food," says registered dietitian Robyn Flipse.
Omega-3 is in:
•Orange juice. Consumers are used to fortifications, from vitamins to calcium, in OJ, says Jim McGinnis, marketing chief at Tropicana. Since 75% of adults don't get the amount of omega-3 they need, he says, Tropicana put it into its Healthy Heart with Omega-3s.
•Butter substitutes. Unilever's I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Mediterranean Blend, introduced in November, contains 400 milligrams of omega-3 per serving. Print ads tout: a new way to enjoy omega-3.
"We see a rise in consumer awareness of health benefits," says brand manager Stephen McDermott.
•Dairy products. Omega Farms adds omega-3 to milk and cheese, and this month will add it to yogurt and orange juice. Because of special processing, there is no taste or smell of fish oil, says CEO Stephen Gaddis.
•Eggs. Eggland's Best sells eggs boosted to 100 milligrams of omega-3 per egg, vs. 37 mg. for a regular egg. It's done by giving hens feed that's high in canola oil, says Bart Slaugh, director of quality assurance.
•Cereal. Kashi GoLean Crunch Honey Almond Flax cereal, introduced in July, has 500 milligrams of omega-3 per cup, says Kellogg spokeswoman Jill Saletta.
•Pet foods. Procter & Gamble's Eukanuba added omega-3 in 1993, and Iams followed in 1994. Last year, Iams Smart Puppy added it for brain development.

 

[nuchickontheblock]

Hi folks,
I have a long history of being an on and off again lacto-ovo vegetarian with occasional fish because we live on the coast. I started this, because I am Jewish and keep a kosher home and it was tough to find kosher meat at times where we live. I have been having some health issues lately and got off of dairy, caffeine and eggs over the past couple of weeks and doing a strictly vegan diet, which I really enjoy.

Tomorrow my husband and I are taking a raw food workshop with a local woman I know. I am a bit nervous about this. What -- no beans and rice, no quinoa, no roasted veggies . . . eek! Anyway, I am looking forward to finding out more about this and seeing if we can make it through the rest of the summer going raw. Most of the raw "recipes" which simulate cooked foods need dehydrators, juicers and food processors. I don't have any of these items, so will see what I can accomplish with a mandolin slicer, and a blender. LOL I do have an 15 year old dehydrator that I just dragged out of the cellar and cleaned up. We shall see how well it works.

For those who are concerned about hidden meat, fish and dairy ingredients in processed food, I recommend you look for kosher symbols on food packaging. You will be surprised how many products are actually kosher. Look for items that have a kosher symbol and the word Pareve next to the symbol. This means that they do not contain any meat or dairy ingredients. Here is a website that happens to have a good representation of different kosher symbols on food (although imported foods and various small local organizations have their own symbols -- so there are probably a hundred of them), just scroll down on this web page and you'll see an example of the most common ones. web.mit.edu/burton2/studybreak.html

I'll post back and let you all know how the raw foods class goes. I only read back about 6 pages on this thread, but hope to go back and read more as time permits.

Thanks for being here. Paula

 

[Kevin565]

Glad to have you on board

I bet you'll enjoy the raw classes!

 

[featherz]

Quote: I double checked and pareve foods can contain eggs and fish. Just for those who are avoiding those. Kosher marshmallows for example contain fish gelatin (yum) .

On chabad.org:

"Fish is pareve. This means that as far as the kosher laws of meat and milk are concerned, it is a neutral zone. It is neither a meat dish nor a milk dish and can be eaten with either."

 

[nuchickontheblock]

Thanks Featherz for clarifying about the pareve kosher ingredients. I always check ingredient lists anyway, so avoid items that I do not want to eat.

My DH and I went to an awesome raw foods class today and learned so much. It was amazing all the different foods we prepared and shared. The teacher was amazing. We decided to give it a go for the rest of the summer. P

 

[angel8035]

Hey everybody! I'm a vegetarian (was vegan) and I found out a few tips about what to eat/what not to eat. Beware of gelatin. I once heard it contains animal parts (one may be cow hide) and I haven't been eating it. I did some research on it, and plenty of websites back it up. Just figured you would want to know that because I was steamed when I found out.(Haha. 'Steamed'; veggies) Sorry. Lame joke. But anyways, it's in a lot of stuff to: certains types of jell-o (most), gummy bears/worms/sharks/exc, (pretty much anything gummy (even some vitamins; on mine it was the third ingredient down the list)

Keep up the good work guys! Resisting meat and other animal products is hard and can be tempting. I know from experiance.

Yes, Gelatin is made from animal hide and hooves and so is a no no for veggies like us. It's also in most yogurts and marshmallows, FYI. Another one you may not know of is in a lot of cheeses called "rennet." It is made from the linings of baby cow's stomachs. Any cheese that has "enzymes" on the ingredient labels can contain cow rennet. There are also microbial and vegetable rennets but you have to check with the manufacturer to be sure what they use. Kraft uses cow rennet in their cheeses. If you have access to Tillamook, all of their cheeses are fine except their white cheddar. Or you could avoid cheese all together I was sad to learn no more goldfish crackers though! (cheeze its are still ok)

 

[Crittercrazed]

Yes, Gelatin is made from animal hide and hooves and so is a no no for veggies like us. It's also in most yogurts and marshmallows, FYI. Another one you may not know of is in a lot of cheeses called "rennet." It is made from the linings of baby cow's stomachs. Any cheese that has "enzymes" on the ingredient labels can contain cow rennet. There are also microbial and vegetable rennets but you have to check with the manufacturer to be sure what they use. Kraft uses cow rennet in their cheeses. If you have access to Tillamook, all of their cheeses are fine except their white cheddar. Or you could avoid cheese all together I was sad to learn no more goldfish crackers though! (cheeze its are still ok)

Oh, thank you so much. Ugh! I'm about to pull all of my hair out! Why does being vegetarian have to be so difficult sometimes? I mean it's rewarding, but I might as well be vegan. (Haha. Back to step 1) I really appreciate your info though, angel. I consume Organic Valley milk and I can't figure out what kind of enzymes they use.
Thanks,
crittercrazed

 

[Kevin565]

Oh, thank you so much. Ugh! I'm about to pull all of my hair out! Why does being vegetarian have to be so difficult sometimes? I mean it's rewarding, but I might as well be vegan. (Haha. Back to step 1) I really appreciate your info though, angel. I consume Organic Valley milk and I can't figure out what kind of enzymes they use.
Thanks,
crittercrazed

I've actually been thinking the same thing lately

 

[angel8035]

After finding out about all of the things in bread/cheese/etc., I have been working my way towards becoming vegan. It's not easy but it's really hard to recognize all of the ingredients with their hidden names! Being a vegan just seems easier.

FYI, the enzymes are just in the cheese. Rennet is used to make the milk curdle. It isn't in milk.

If you want to blow your mind, look up L-Cysteine.

Keep up the good work though! Being a vegetarian is extremely rewarding in my book.

 

[Kevin565]

After finding out about all of the things in bread/cheese/etc., I have been working my way towards becoming vegan. It's not easy but it's really hard to recognize all of the ingredients with their hidden names! Being a vegan just seems easier.

FYI, the enzymes are just in the cheese. Rennet is used to make the milk curdle. It isn't in milk.

If you want to blow your mind, look up L-Cysteine.

Keep up the good work though! Being a vegetarian is extremely rewarding in my book.