Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:29:20 -0500WeeblyTue, 21 Sep 2010 14:45:33 -0500http://www.yourveganesse.com/1/post/2010/09/we-are-all-allergic.html... to unhealthy food. 
The ailments that many of us choose to live with are the effects of what we eat.  Pimples, body odor, fatigue, headaches, body pains, gas, cramps, runny nose, asthma, irritability, digestive disorders, stress, dry skin, dry hair-- these are things no one wants to live with, but they have become "normal" afflictions that a lot of us either throw up our hands at, or turn to the drugstore for a band-aid "cure."  The underlying cause of these ailments is almost always a poor diet. 

These "normal" afflictions do not have to be the norm for you, too!

The stress test for food:
To see how your body immediately reacts to a food you've just eaten, compare your pulse before and after you've ingested the food.
If your pulse increases, your body is stressed out by the food and you should not continue eating it.

Common foods that stress: caffeine, alcohol, foods high in salt or sugar, fatty foods, cow's milk and dairy products, red meat, refined and processed foods, margarines and other processed vegetable oils, spicy foods, additives, preservatives, and other chemicals

Foods that De-stress: celery, sunflower seeds, brown rice, algae, cabbage, almonds, berries, sesame seeds, cucumbers, asparagus, garlic, and avocados.





sources: You Are What You Eat by Dr. Gillian McKeith. Celador Productions, 2005.
Skinny Bitch By Rory Freedman, Kim Barnouin. Running Press, 2005.]]>Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:20:38 -0500http://www.yourveganesse.com/1/post/2010/07/atrocious-caking.htmlSpotlight:
Red Velvet Cake
Strawberry Cake

As a vegan cake-ologist (new word^^), I check my notes against the conventional cake counterparts out there.  I want vegan cakes to surpass the egg-toting, non-vegan sugar-containing, and animal-derived cakes out there... So I research:

In my search for red velvet cakes, I found out that it was created during Depression times in the US.  Sugar, among other things, was being rationed, so resourceful bakers took to using sweet beets to help out in their cakes.  The red was more of a pretty side effect, but easily colored the cakes with the majority of the flavor being vanilla with just a bit of chocolate.  The beets do not impart a detectable flavor to the cake, just lots of moistness.  And voila! Red Velvet became a Great Depression success story. 
Today, it seems to have gone downhill.  Red Velvet today does not use natural beets.  Instead, it has become commonplace to use 1 to 2 entire bottles of red food dye per cake (eek!).  Red food dye (an FD&C) is one those products that have indistinguishable sources-- a lot times it will contain the extract of crushed conchineal beetles (aka. conchineal extract, carmine) which an increasing number of people are allergic to.  Be wary of products/ingredients that you cannot tell where they come from. 

Another cake that shocked me is Strawberry Cake.  Now this cake sounds wonderful actually, like a perfect accompaniment to Farmer's Market.  When I think of strawberry cake, I think real strawberries and batter.  Nearly every listed cake I found contained artificially flavored/colored gelatin powder (meat-derived) ::GASP!:: and generic white cake mix.  What happened to the strawberries?  This makes "strawberry" cake far off the meter of what should be considered as food.

A step back: We have made many advancements in medical treatments, yet food has become heavily processed and full of unrecognizable ingredients.  Good health and a proper lifespan can never be achieved this way.  I know I mentioned just two cakes, but I am not over-generalizing.

 Now I love dessert and dessert excites me, but the common practices for these two cakes should have them thrown out the window.
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