Vegan Myths

27 MYTHS EVERYBODY NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT VEGANISM

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HEALING OURSELVES HEALING OUR PLANET

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By Bo Rinaldi
www.veganfusion.com and www.cookinghealthylesssons.com

Inspired by the thousands of people everywhere who have asked me

why going vegan is so important for ourselves and the planet. Having been a vegan since 1960 I have compiled the top 27 myths I have heard over the years. Creating a better life with perfect health and a more sustainable future for All living beings is my purpose in sharing this information with you.

P lease share this freely with all you know and love.
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Vegan Myths
27 MYTHS EVERYBODY NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT VEGANISM

Healing Ourselves Healing Our Planet

ASIN !!!!"#$%!"! All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission from Vegan Fusion, except in the case of brief quotations for the purpose of reviews. For interviews, in depth author bios and further information please contact:
Vegan Fusion www.veganfusion.com 808-822-0820 or 800-772-3012

Vegan Fusion provides information regarding a healthy lifestyle for educational purposes. The authors and publishers are not offering or dispensing medical advice. Since every individuals health condition and circumstances are unique, the authors and publisher recommend that you seek the services of a qualified health care professional before using any information offered in this book, or our websites, for medical purposes.

DEDICATION

We offer Vegan Myths

to all individuals, groups and organizations working for peace, compassion and understanding within ourselves and in our world.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction! MYTH #1 Humans are naturally omnivorous so they shouldnt be vegan! MYTH #2 Weve evolved eating meat so its best for our bodies! MYTH #3 Our bodies optimally digest meat! MYTH #4 Some blood types need meat! MYTH #5 Vegan diets dont supply enough protein! MYTH #6 Only animal products supply complete proteins! MYTH #7 Tofu is the only complete vegan protein! MYTH #8 You need to combine different plant foods to get a complete protein! MYTH #9 Our bodies need protein for glycolysis to convert into ATP! MYTH #10 Milk products are healthy! MYTH #11 Being vegan doesnt supply enough calcium! MYTH #12 Vegan diets arent healthy! MYTH #13 Vegans have too many rules about what they can eat! MYTH #14 Everything is good for you in small amounts! MYTH #15 Vegan men are weak and impotent! MYTH #16 Vegans dont get enough iron! MYTH #17 Vegans easily get b12 deficiencies! MYTH #18 Youll eat nothing but carrots, celery & lettuce! MYTH #19 Vegan food isnt gourmet or interesting! MYTH #20 Vegetables dont taste good! MYTH #21 Being a vegan will ruin your social life! MYTH #22 Eating a vegan diet is very expensive! MYTH #23 Being vegan isnt better for the environment! MYTH #24 Being a vegan is less sustainable than being a local eating omnivore! MYTH #25 Fruits have too much sugar and should be used in moderation! MYTH #26 Plants feel pain too! MYTH #27 You still have to kill a plant to eat it so its essentially non-different!

INTRODUCTION

feel fairly comfortable asserting that nearly everyone in the United States and the world

these days knows someone who is vegan. Its rise popularity could likely be attributed to the famous vegan actors and musicians idolized by our youth and to the Hollywood diet crazes that filter outward until they wither like a neglected weed cast out of the garden. Although I like to think that awareness is growing about veganism as a result of its own inherent noble truth and the liberation it offers from the cycle of suffering and repression thats been intertwined with our food. Although Im okay admitting that the media also had something to do with it but since the inception of the vegan movement this attention has been a double edged sword. Its great to get information into the general public but with it often comes a ton of misinformation. Any time anything new digs its way into the mainstream consciousness we end up hearing a lot of hype about it. People who claim to be experts can be very misleading and as a result the truth often goes unrecognized buried under a mountain junk science and corporate opposition. So, in effort to flush out the truth so that we all may benefit from it, Im going to explain to you exactly what veganism is all about as well as what its not about. The vegan movement isnt trying to sell you anything but it might take some money out of the pockets of some huge corporations, so the life changing effects and benefits it holds are too often suppressed. Fortunately, results speak for themselves and anyone willing to give veganism a try will know for themselves the unfettered access to personal empowerment it delivers as you unleash your health. Veganism is a lifestyle that takes into account the effects our diets and daily habits have on our personal health and longevity as well as the ways we impact our environment and the others we share this world with. Vegans do not eat meat, diary, eggs or animal derived foods and many also avoid using any product or goods that have come from an animal. This is a lifestyle of health, wellness and compassion that takes into account much of what I will share with you here. Being vegan is about preserving innocent lives, improving and maintaining our own health, and creating a cleaner environment through personal integrity and healthy choices. There you have it. This is veganism in a nutshell. Theres no book of law that comes with it. No long list of rules to abide by. Its not a cult and it wont steal your children from you. Vegans just dont want to hurt and kill animals so they eat plants instead. Its a movement that is very timely considering the declining health of our nation and the infiltration of junk food into the rest of the world. Possibly the most valuable reward for living in such a way that honors life is the fact that vegans are rewarded with great health, low health care costs and a much smaller footprint on this green planet. Its a good thing our bodies were designed to eat plants because we all be considered martyrs otherwise! When you consider the ethical grounds and logical reasoning that support a vegan diet it seems odd that its been such an undervalued lifestyle for so long. But, we humans are creatures of habit and when we arent familiar with a concept, we must explore it from many

angles in order to make sense of it and to see if it could improve our own lives or not. Our natural tendencies toward skepticism, doubt, and a bit of fear keep us from doing stupid things. Theyre the defense mechanisms that have been essential to our survival for eons and while theyve proven to be good survival tools, they dont always serve our personal growth or even remain consistent with reality. And humans, driven by our customs and taboos, will often forge ahead along the habits of our forebears, even if to our detriment. When certain habits become common to an entire culture it can be very difficult to break away from the group understanding of health and wellness in order to pursue a deeper understanding of your own body and how to best nurture it. Sure its taken a long time for veganism to emerge as a well-supported and popular diet, but we now know that its the best option we have for preserving both our health and our environment. Those of us who have ventured into this unfamiliar territory, weve all encountered a great volume of questions along the way, some we ask ourselves, and others asked by skeptics and those who are simply curious. After so many years of inquest, study, and good old trial, and error, solid factual and scientifically justified answers about vegan diets have emerged. Indeed medical evidence now points the way that a plant based lifestyle may actually prevent and reverse heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and many other modern day maladies. Still, theres a lot of misinformation perpetuated around veganism and there are certain persistent MYTHs in circulation that are based completely on speculation and others on shear misunderstanding or lack of experience. These rifts in the consistency of our understanding of vegan diets stand between many of us and our ultimate health. Maybe some of your questions about veganism have gone unanswered. Or perhaps youve been given outdated or inaccurate information. It can be difficult to know just whose answer to trust when theres conflicting information coming from different interest groups. But in this informative booklet were going to flush out the reality behind some of the most ugly and pertinent MYTHs surrounding vegan diets and whether or not they are ideal for humans. I sincerely hope that by reading this booklet youll be able to put any misgivings or fears about veganism to rest so that you can commit wholeheartedly to your own health and well being by adopting a vegan diet.

MYTH #1
Humans are naturally omnivorous so they shouldnt be vegan One of the biggest general misconceptions about humans is that were naturally omnivorous. Laymen and professionals on both ends of the spectrum and on every notch in between have passionately debated this subject. But the debates are over now and the polls are telling of the truth. There are enough physical indications, enough historical data, and plenty of fossil records that support veganism as being not only a healthy diet, but also one that most closely follows the thread of human development since the time before we became bipedal.

If youre just looking at recent history in effort to determine the best diet for the human population in general, then its easy to draw the wrong conclusions. Rather than being omnivorous by nature its far more accurate to say that humans are naturally very adaptable. Weve been able to survive and expand our population all over the world despite the vast range of extreme environmental conditions some of us humans live in. Our bodies can take a ton of stress and mistreatment before they wear out and this dramatic flexibility has given our species an advantage in life not known to any other creature were familiar with. We humans are very good at subsisting off very little and at making use of whatever we can find to nourish our bodies. For our ancient ancestors, strong intelligence and shear ingenuity blessed those primitive humans with an ability to think abstractly. This is exactly the type of brilliance it took for humans to begin altering their surroundings, forging shelters and constructing vessels for gathering, carrying, and storing food. All the while a keen preoccupation with experimentation and profound connection to nature allowed us humans to eventually devise ways of shaping tools to help dig for nutritious roots, overcoming the obvious shortcomings as hunters of fashioning weapons from basic raw materials. Humans have been wildly successful at conquering the challenge of finding food, by making our environment conform to our needs. But our urge to avoid the extreme threat of starvation by hunting, and our capacity for finding ways of killing for food regardless of our natural disadvantages, are not adequate ways to test or prove what our intended natural diet should be comprised of. Rather, we need to investigate what it is that our bodies were designed to digest as was informed through millions of years of evolution, and what foods we were naturally attracted to when we were given an abundance of choices. There is definitely something to be said for our instincts and the insight they offer into what a natural diet looks like. I think we can all agree (jokes aside) that no human walks past a cow, a squirrel, or a rabbit and honestly thinks Wow, that animal sure looks yummy. I cant wait to kill it and eat it! On the contrary, most of us talk about how kind or gentle or cute the critter is. Of course everyones heard someone they know make the joke about how delicious a cow looks and refers to them as hamburger rather than cow, but if that were true on an instinctual level wed all be knocking down fences and ravenously sinking our teeth into livestock the way wolves and mountain lions do. Instead we bring our kids to petting zoos and farms so we can look at animals with wonder. We allow them to touch these gentle beasts affectionately, to feed them, and give them names. And if a particularly unruly child hurts an animal we reprimand them and take them to a psychiatrist. How strange is it that we then drive home with a serving of cow in the grocery bag and unconsciously or consciously place barriers between their connections with the animals they adore and the hunk of flesh on their plate? We dont tell our kids were eating cow for dinner, we say were eating beef or hamburger or steak. Then when kids find out what exactly theyve been eating many of them resist the idea and others may even feel betrayed that theyve been coerced into eating the animals they care about. We dont know how to reconcile our love and appreciation for the beauty of animals and our addiction to eating them. We make jokes to cover our vulnerability around the subject and convince

ourselves that we simply cant survive without eating them. We use every justification one could think of to make ourselves feel at ease with what we all know on some level just isnt healthy. Of course, if you still insist that a pig looks like something youd want to eat there are several other physical idiosyncrasies that are indicative of our pitfalls as meat eaters. I find that the far most compelling evidence for plant-based nutrition can be found in a careful comparison of our physical features and those of omnivores or carnivores, because there are so many notable differences. And when we examine each aspect of our bodies and analyze our similarities and differences to omnivores our physical features reveal that were indeed quite unfit for meat eating. First off there are the problems weve had to overcome as hunters; we lack the speed needed to chase down game, and even if we were fast enough to catch anything other than a lizard, we wouldnt be able to effectively subdue a larger animal with our bare hands without being seriously maimed ourselves. Even while hunting in a group without tools the risk of injury and loss of life would be more than its worth. After all, we lack the razor sharp claws of cats that enable them to ensnare their prey or the stout nails of dogs that help them to unearth and catch rodents. And we certainly dont have teeth that are built for tearing the fur and flesh away from a still breathing animal very easily. Actually, our teeth and our jaws appear to be strikingly similar to animals that eat fruit and leafy greens as the main part of their diets. True carnivores such as cats, have all manner of pointed teeth in their jaws, all designed for gnashing. And their jaws are far more pronounced than ours with very wide mouth openings compared to their overall head size. Even their molars are very narrow and pointed as opposed to the shallow divots in our comparatively flat and wide molars. True omnivores like bears and raccoons have some teeth that resemble a felines and are far more sharp and menacing than a humans but the teeth further in the back are used for masticating plant matter and more closely resemble human molars. But a bears large, long jaw with a mouth opening that stretches across either side of its cheekless face still far more closely resembles a carnivores than an herbivores. All the same, most bears with the exception of polar bears eat a predominantly vegan diet even though theyre far more suited to hunting, killing, and consuming animals than we are. In fact, 75%-95% of what most bears eat throughout the year is plant based! You might even call the diet of a grizzly bear the equivalent of the modern Paleodiet. But bears just dont hunt very often. Instead they tend toward foraging fresh, in season plant foods to supply them with nourishment. Hunting takes a lot of energy so its reserved for times when plant food is in short supply. My question then is, how are we to assume that humans, who are far less physically suited for hunting and killing animals, are ideally supposed to be set on the same stage as a bear? How is it that we even came to believe we were omnivorous? In fact there are so many physical similarities between humans and other primates that observing their diets is possibly the best way for us to develop our ideas about an optimal diet for us too. As well, with few exceptions, most primates eat a predominantly vegan diet heavy on leafy greens and fruit.

The deeper truth in discovering our ideal diet and the reason for our ability to survive in unfriendly conditions lies in the fact that humans are less specialized than other animals. This is reflected in the story written on our genetic coding of the evolution weve gone through and is a reminder of the origins of our mammalian roots and even of life on earth. You can see shadows of our primordial connection to other mammals through various similarities when you look at human development. Weve just grown out of our natural habitat. Thats what makes us different. Animals and indeed all forms of life on Earth respond to their environment and after millions of years make major adaptations to suit the conditions of their surroundings. But adaptation usually takes a long time. There are always minor variations, slight changes that occur generation to generation, which will improve the chances of survival of the species. But generally any large modifications happen over thousands and even millions of years. Through minor adaptations and interbreeding our species has become less locked in to one specific type of environment and this has allowed humans to brave a vast variety of different climates and enabled us to survive on a wide variety of different foods and diets. However, just because we can survive while eating meat, this does not mean that well thrive while doing so. Its ultimately not what our bodies were originally designed to process and eating meat in excess can eventually cause disease and shorten our lifespans.

MYTH #2
Weve evolved eating meat so its best for our bodies Lets begin tackling this one by getting our timeline straight. We need to keep in context that the bodies of our species, who we currently call Homo sapiens, have been developed through millions of years of evolution to yield their current state of being. Very little about our component parts, like our digestive systems or our endocrine or nervous systems, has changed much over the last several hundred years or even through the last thousand. Of course there are small variations that occur after many generations following a predominating diet but the template is the same and remains almost completely undifferentiated. Lots of diets are supposedly modeled after the dietary habits of our ancestors and depending on how far back in history you go or what region of the world you focus on this can look drastically different. And for the most part diets like these assume, wrongly, that our digestive systems are all very different from person to person. But this simply isnt true. Extremely small differences aside, were far more alike than we are different and healthy adults of the human population will all thrive on very similar dietary habits. High protein, low carb diets in particular have become ragingly popular in the last decade or so but the results they yield are very temporary and can even be dangerous. You see, there isnt much in the way of essential minerals, vitamins, essential fatty acids, or enzymes to be extracted from meat, yet these nutrients are absolutely essential for our organ health, tissue growth and cellular regeneration. Carbohydrates not proteins - are actually the easiest

macronutrient for us to convert into energy and restricting them completely can leave us feeling pretty lethargic. Eating high protein diets leads to halitosis, inflammation, acidity of the blood, high cholesterol, constipation, and is very hard on the liver and kidneys; it can even lead to kidney failure or worse. In recent history humans have taken to eating meat more regularly mostly because it signaled wealth but early in our history and during times when plant foods were plentiful even our more recent ancestors largely abstained from eating meat. Current studies point to the fact that Neanderthals ate far more plant matter than was previously assumed and the same is true for humans up into the last hundred years or so. There are even whole populations of people in India, Asia and the Americas whose ancestors have abstained from meat since time immemorial. However, even those in societies where meat was more commonly eaten it was still taken in moderation for the most part. A portion of meat was only a part of a meal and a small one at that. An ounce or two of meat only a few times a week was about all a person from the 19th century would eat. Over the past 100 years our meat intake has increased over 500%! And this has affected our health and entire environment. We move slower, we think slower. We have all kinds of health epidemics like obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart diseases. Were not doing ourselves any favors by making meat a huge dietary staple. Still, theres something to be said for eating the way our ancestors did, but the problem is that were going about it all wrong. If we really want to sketch out what our natural diet should be in terms of what our ancestors ate, then with careful scrutiny well find that through most of our evolutionary history from primitive primates to Homo erectus what our ancestors ate was predominantly composed of fruits, leaves, nuts and seeds, insects, with the infrequent small bird or frog tossed into the mix. Even Neanderthals, the famed savage hunters who discovered fire, have shown us through fossil records that they ate diets filled with plant matter and perhaps the occasional animal snack rather than the other way around. This paints a very different picture of our ancestors than the traditional meat-eating barbarians weve all come to know, and it should give us every indication that a vegan diet is not only sustainable for modern humans but that it may well be the best general diet of all. If you really want to eat like a Neanderthal then you should probably also consider the fact that our ancestors ate when and if they could find food at all. They didnt have a constant buffet of different animals to eat along with the occasional strawberry. They ate fruit and leaves as they came into season and likely stored nuts as an extra reserve food. If we really wanted to follow their dietary habits then wed be fasting for nearly half of the year collectively and eating very opportunistically. And there is something to be said for regular fasting when it comes to health and longevity but the point is that you cant say you eat like a Neanderthal just because youre chowing down a six-ounce portion of salmon every other day. For those of us who want to eat the diet we evolved to eat, try giving the vegan diet a whirl and make sure to place a huge emphasis on fresh fruits, raw veggies, and leafy greens. Then do some long term seasonal fasts and voila! Throw in a grasshopper or lizard and you have an accurate depiction of a well-rounded Paleolithic era diet.

But historical debate aside, its very important to know that regardless of how meaty your parents diet was, or even your great-grandparents for that matter, veganism can and will work for you because despite your recent family history your body is the product of evolution and for most of history humans were vegan or very close to it. When you revert back to a natural way of eating the only thing that happens is that your digestive system works better and you feel great. So, even if you directly descended from Vikings or other tribes of the far north where meat has been a relatively large dietary staple for hundreds of years, eating a vegan diet will allow your body to activate the genetic markers for longevity and vital health. Converting to a vegan diet will stop the stress that forces unnecessary adaptation. Lets look at an example from nature to demonstrate this point. When hybridized or genetically modified plants are left to the wild, after several generations they revert back to their natural state or to something very similar. The blueprint that had worked well for a particular plant until the time it was tampered with reinstates itself. After all its pretty difficult for humans to improve upon millions of years of evolution. And the fact remains that we alter plants for our own benefit, not for theirs. Its the same for humans. Just because weve had unnatural habits throughout past generations this does not mean that our own bodies and those of future generations will suffer when meat is removed from the menu. And in fact on a well-planned vegan diet successive generations will only become stronger, have better resistance to disease, immune systems and longer lifespans.

MYTH #3
Our bodies optimally digest meat Again, the best way to understand this MYTH is to take a look at which animals eat meat as opposed to those that subsist off vegetation. If we separate out specific features that are common to carnivores and omnivores as opposed to herbivores well begin to piece together a more accurate picture of what an omnivore looks like and what a vegetarian looks like. Lets refer back to our own bodies and see what insights they can offer when compared to closely related primates. An important attribute we share with primates aside from opposable thumbs is the size and positioning of our mouths. Unlike cats and dogs or even bears or raccoons, our relatively small mouths are positioned on the front of our faces and we have cheeks and lips that cover our teeth where omnivores and carnivores grin from ear to ear and have far less expressive lips. Our faces definitely shine some light onto what it is we might be eating but really its whats on the inside that counts. And we happen to be the proud owners of digestive systems that closely resemble those of most apes and monkeys, with the exception of some leaf-eating monkeys. As far as digestive systems go, ours are very basic. Weve got so few specialized features popping up in our digestive tracts that our insides reveal us to be little more than monkeys or apes with short colons. One difference is that our colons are just a bit shorter than

those of other primates and this is telling of the subtle differences between what we can digest well and what less civilized primates thrive on. Our small stomachs where proteins are digested small intestines, and relatively short large intestines suggest that were far less suited to eating meat than carnivores who burn up flesh with their with their extraordinarily low pH gastric fluid and huge stomachs while a short set of intestines flushes out the waste quickly. Also, carnivores dont produce digestive enzymes to accompany their saliva as we do. Thats because the enzymes in saliva are meant to break down carbohydrates rather than protein, which is digested mostly in the stomach. Since carnivores dont really eat carbohydrates the way we do they dont need saliva enzymes. Humans on the other hand sluggishly pass meat out of the stomach after partial digestion where it then winds through our long labyrinth of intestines allowing it to ferment along the way. Our very long digestive tracts and small stomachs closely resemble other predominately vegan primates. Of course there are also many leaf eating monkeys who have some pretty wild looking insides, but Im not trying to convince you that you should be a leaf-eater. As far as comparisons go were focusing specifically on the only other group of animals who have digestive systems that are nearly identical to ours, and the fact is that most primates and humans share uncannily similar digestive tract traits. So we really dont digest meat efficiently but we wont do very well with the tough tree leaves monkeys eat either. Of course there are lots of leafy green vegetables we digest perfectly well but they happen to have softer cell structures and different types of phytonutrients that are more easily welcomes by our bodies in particular. But like monkeys and apes were very well suited to eating predominantly fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds. Most of any animal protein other primates eat comes in the form of insects with the occasional tasty lizard treat. Of course the exception to this are the chimpanzees who like humans - seem to relish killing and eating animals more frequently. Of course they also share in our generally violent temperament too so the two things may just go hand in hand. And even though chimps have been observed eating other animals they still do so very infrequently compared to humans; it would be surprising to see one hunt more than once a month. Because we have long digestive systems we are pretty dependent on fiber to help push food through our winding tubes and canals. Foods that are devoid or low in fiber sit for longer periods of time waiting for our peristaltic waves to usher them through and building a plaque along the intestinal walls as they go. They make us ill if we consume too much of them and contribute little to nothing toward our general health or nutrition requirements. Meat in particular really has no fiber to speak of and therefore hangs around while our bodies try laboriously to push it out. This allows meat to putrefy inside our intestines before it even has a chance to pass out of the body. This causes all sorts of ailments and leads to stagnant colon function and infection that can lead to more debilitating digestive problems. So just like many monkeys and apes we have the ability to digest meat, but we do so inefficiently at best and most of whats eaten just becomes waste. It doesnt even give us the nutrients we need to keep us healthy and strong into our old age. Meat heavy diets are the cause of hundreds of different diseases and rapid aging. Our bodies thrive on vegan diets full of fresh plant foods and we receive vibrant long-lasting health when we make them the foundation of our diets.

The important thing to take away from this scrutinization of the features that make certain animals likely candidates for meat eating is that we humans are strikingly different from true omnivores or carnivores.

MYTH #4
Some blood types need meat This is an area that truly needs to have the slate wiped clean. The eating by your blood type theory was prosed by layman, Peter DAmo, who used his own personal study of human history to come to his own conclusions. He was not a scientist or even a nutritionist and the whole eating for your blood type concept was based upon his speculations and some misinterpreted scientific studies. Its true that our blood type does have some influence over the types of lectins which are a special group of sugar-binding proteins that either help or harm your body your body can and cannot process efficiently, but there is no scientific information that backs up the claim that some blood types such as type O need to eat meat in particular. (Take it from a type O who went vegetarian at the age of 10!) After our previous observations about the similarity between human digestive systems and those of the majority of other primates its logical to assume that regardless of blood type were actually more alike on the inside than we are different. Its not that one person needs meat and another can get by without it, rather we all have very similar nutritional requirements based on our degree of health and on how efficiently our organs are working. If your diet has been full of fatty fried foods your liver will eventually become taxed enough that it can no longer digest fat properly. If you eat too many sugary foods your pancreas will stop producing the enzymes and insulin will be needed to metabolize it. When one eats too much protein it may cause ulcers and freeze up the stomach so that almost no digestion at all is able to take place. A very small portion of these disorders is based upon our genetic predispositions but they are certainly always activated by the lifestyles we lead. Because of our tendencies toward weakness in certain organs based upon our lifestyle choices we are given the illusion that some of us need to eat high protein foods while others dont. This is only true to a very small degree and the rest of what look like differences are actually caused by disordered eating to begin with. With diligence and modified diet plans anyone can be vegan. And anyone can help heal themselves by going vegan, as we have seen from the tens of thousands of people we have worked with. It takes time to make ourselves sick from eating junk and processed food that just dont work well for human digestion. So exercise patience with your diet while making the switch to veganism. Remember that small changes can be a very large help. Rather than eat for your blood type, just eat a diet filled with lots of fresh fruit and enough simple protein foods and

healthy fats to keep your body in constant supply of high energy and high nutrient foods, and youll have a recipe for vegan success. And I promise you wont even notice your blood type while doing it!

MYTH #5
Vegan diets dont supply enough protein Protein is one of the most basic structures for life and consists of an infinite variety of combinations and chains of amino acids. There are hundreds of different types of proteins in your body and they all have different but equally important jobs. They contribute to the form, structure, and function of your body and they help carry out essential processes in metabolism and nutrient utilization. Amino acids are present in every living cell and are so abundant within the plant kingdom that its a wonder this MYTH ever got more than a passing glance to begin with. Nearly every food on the planet supplies dietary protein. That includes bananas, apples, and even lettuce, which we often think of as being little more than colored water with little nutritional value. Protein is such an abundant nutrient that its nearly impossible to become protein deficient unless youre actually starving. Weve been led to believe that fruit has nothing in it but sugar and maybe some vitamins but even oranges and mangoes supply plenty of building blocks for the complex and varied proteins in our bodies! Even if you ate nothing but almonds and broccoli every day of your life youd still get enough protein. What youd lack though is a variation of vitamins and minerals that come from a varied diet. Protein is actually very easy for our bodies to synthesize when we have all of the necessary component parts, and its far easier for our bodies to utilize readily accessible amino acids than it is to break down complex protein chains into the amino acids needed to then resynthesize the correct proteins for our use. This makes plant foods an indispensable source of protein no matter the amount each food contains. Actually, relying on animal products as a main protein source gyps your body out of a lot of useful energy that could be used for processes other than taking apart complex protein chains. And this is a big part of the reason people get that 3 oclock pm sluggish feeling or a bout of major lethargy after eating a protein heavy meal. While its essential to get enough of, protein is over rated as a necessary nutrient and we really dont need to concern ourselves with monitoring our intake. Its one nutrient that is found in varying degrees no matter what you happen to be eating. In fact the importance thats placed on consuming enough protein really should be transferred onto the nutrients that are severely lacking in most modern diets, the minerals and phytonutrients like vitamins and enzymes. Without calcium and silica or sulfur, our skin and bones would just disintegrate yet were often at least slightly deficient in these essential minerals. This is reflected in many health problems like osteoporosis, loss of muscle mass, and accelerated aging of the skin. Without

sufficient minerals our skin and bones loose their integrity and structure and they wither before their time. Vitamins too are needed to carry out every process that goes on in the body. You need vitamin-C for iron absorption and the production of collagen and vitamin-A is absolutely essential for your eyesight and for maintaining healthy teeth, bones, skin, and mucous membranes. However, there are countless other vitamin cofactors and dozens of phytochemicals that are also an integral piece in the grand orchestra of a healthy body and you need them all. And most of them are only available from the plant kingdom. Too much protein on the other hand is extremely detrimental to the body. It slows down blood flow by making it thick and sluggish. Its also difficult to remove protein waste from the digestive tract without eating enough fiber to push it through. Eating too much protein is incredibly hard on your kidneys and liver in particular and contributes kidney and gall bladder stones. While its important to get enough dietary protein, we must get it from high quality sources that are also rich in micronutrients in addition to the three basic macronutrients. If we chose to focus on overall good nutrition by eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables as the mainstay of our vegan diets then wed never have to question our protein intake at all! Now, rather than ask whether youre getting enough protein I think we should be asking: Arent you getting too much protein?

MYTH #6
Only animal products supply complete proteins A running MYTH that persists even into modern nutrition classes today is that meat and other animal products like dairy and eggs supply complete proteins, but plant foods must be combined in order create a complete protein of equal value. Not only is this untrue its also very misleading. The theory behind this incredibly sticky MYTH states that animal protein supplies us with all nine essential amino acids the amino acids your body doesnt produce on its own in the proper ratios to human nutritional need. It might seem obvious that animals have protein profiles similar to what we say we need since the muscles of both humans and animals have similar composition and function, but the story doesnt end here. You might recall that earlier I mentioned it takes energy to digest complex protein. As soon as youve eaten a piece of meat youve already created an energy deficit. Sure youll get some basic units for energy production covered but the amount of energy youll derive from a meal of flesh is far less than the amount you could get from a plant-based meal. If youre eating a lot of food that ends up as waste but doesnt offer much in the way of nutrition, I imagine you can draw the conclusions that the complex complete protein you were after just isnt worth the hole your digging yourself into in all other aspects of general nutrition. But rather than trust sound science and meet our realistic needs for protein and general nutrition from far less violent sources, we focus single-pointedly on getting enough

protein as if there were some shortage of epidemic proportions and animal flesh was the only way to stave of some terrible wasting disease. We stuff our faces with addictive, high protein foods like burgers all the while citing our dependence on meat to ward off a low blood-sugar episode or to prevent lightheadedness. Its really time we step out of our monotonous, centuries old understanding of protein and broaden the view of our dietary requirements passed the paradigm of protein being the central pillar of nutrition. Our archaic notions of protein and the role it plays in our health is greatly misunderstood, as are most concepts in nutrition. Humans often overanalyze things in effort to understand them but we often forget that component parts make up a complete whole. We place stock in protein because of its relationship to meat and the status meat holds as a sign of wealth. The archetypical image of a fat king with a banquet of meats before him may represent to many a sign of wealth but it is far from being a sign of health. Although meat has proven itself a convenient way for humans to acquire all of the dietary protein needed in just a small portion, its disastrously out of proportion with our actual overall nutrition requirements. You see our bodies dont really need all that much protein at all. In fact just one three or four ounce portion of meat would cover your protein requirements for the day, but the portions people eat are far larger than this and they are consumed several times a day rather than once a day or several times a week, the way our forefathers ate it. Part of the problem we have with our ideas about meat and protein stems from the fact that weve dissected food into its component parts and isolated many of them in the form of drugs and supplements and along the way weve lost touch with the significance of just eating good old simple food. The food that we are designed to eat. Instead we nosh on steaks and chicken wings for a quick fix and then supplement our diets with nutrition shakes and energy drinks when our reserves run low. But the humble plants our planet has provided for us to eat are always available in an incredible display of the diversity of life. Meat on the other hand is ruthlessly inflammatory and doesnt offer much in the way of nutrition anyway. Its acidic mineral content can send your body into a dangerous state of acidosis. In fact meat creates such a low pH that your body will actually pull alkaline minerals from your bones to keep it from damaging your insides. Can you say osteoporosis? How about arthritis? The toxic byproducts left over after digesting meat often accumulate in your joints. They can even degenerate your neural pathways and weaken the integrity of every cell in your body. But when you bite into a natural fruit or vegetable of the earth it reveals itself to be a source of protein and indeed a perfect food source thats brimming with the vibrating, living, substrate of animated nutrients linked within a web of symbiotic keys for unlocking full access to the multifaceted nutrition they offer. And theyre imbibed with colors, scents, and flavors that are incredibly pleasing to our senses and make us feel amazing when we eat them. Makes you wonder why wed choose to eat anything else.

MYTH #7
Tofu is the only complete vegan protein Tofu is not the only complete vegan protein. Thank goodness this isnt true because Id be one cranky vegan! I wont knock tofu since I know it has many advocates and fans even beyond the vegan community, and I love it on occasion too. There are so many amazing foods that are complete proteins and theyre also among the most nutritious foods on the planet. Among some of the top-notch protein foods out there are chia seeds, hemp seeds, barley grass, wheat grass, goji berries, sprouts of all kinds, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, peas, spirulina, Chlorella, AFA blue-green algae, and most seaweeds. The list doesnt stop here either so stay open to adding new foods to this ever-growing list as we discover more about plants that pack super nutrition. As well learn when we bust MYTH #8 in this booklet, protein combining isnt necessary as long as youre eating a varied diet that includes lots of different fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, greens, herbs, and spices. Though its still good to know that if you feel your protein needs are higher than they might be for others you can still get them all from plants. This is also good information to have for parents of picky children who may be concerned that their kids arent getting enough variation in their diet. We all know that kids go through lots of different phases where they single out certain foods they deem acceptable to them while they place a heavy moratorium on any other foods that havent been preapproved by their developing taste buds and narrow comfort zones. You can easily cover most of you childs protein and general nutrition needs by serving them just one super nutritious and kid-friendly meal every day. You can use any of the foods listed above in many different ways to sneak them into your kids diet. Blend hemp seeds into creamy smoothies and throw in some Chlorella or spirulina while youre at it and youll have a recipe for a great meal that not only offers plenty of complete proteins but also gives you a power boost of brain simulating, body nourishing vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and phytonutrients that are very much lacking in animal based protein powders, and animal products in general. Or sprinkle your guacamole with some dulse or kelp flakes for a savory, mineral rich protein boost. Versatile ingredients like these lend themselves well to many other healthy and delicious snacks and treats for the whole family. Throw some pumpkin or hemp seeds into a vegetable and seed pate or blend up some peas with a touch of tahini and lemon juice for a savory dip to serve with veggie crackers or whole veggie sticks. You could also replace some of the rice you serve to your family with amaranth or quinoa to bring some variety to your meals and to make sure your family has no questions about making their protein quota. Whatever way you choose to incorporate some of these complete vegan protein foods at least you wont be eating soy curd everyday for the rest of your life!

MYTH #8
You need to combine different plant foods to get a complete protein Its a common misconception that you need to combine foods with incomplete proteins to create complete ones. Believe it or not, the idea that we need to combine foods during a meal to make a complete protein was a MYTH started by vegetarian author, Frances Moore Lapp, in her book Diet for a Small Planet back in the 70s. She later withdrew this assertion but not before it was taken up by the American Dietetic Association (ADA) as well as critics of vegetarianism and its remained a nutrition MYTH since. However, in more recent times the ADA has since reversed its support for the idea that protein combining was essential and instead offers peer-reviewed studies on the lack of scientific basis for the necessity of protein combining. In fact as long as you eat several different foods throughout the day and keep your diet well varied week to week youll get all the protein you need; you dont even need to eat them at the same time. Your body pools amino acids for use when it needs them, so as long as you eat more than one type of food a day and more then 20 types of food during an average week youre getting the protein you need. Variety is key when it comes to protein and fortunately this is true of good nutrition in general. Protein is really nothing more than a fundamental aspect of balanced nutrition, but its no more important than any other isolated nutrient because every one of them is inextricably linked within the matrix of living vibrating cells. Plants in all their vivid and colorful glory contain thousands of different vitamins, phytochemicals, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, polysaccharides, and co-factors, and theyre all important. They all serve a function and unless youre getting variety in your diet regardless of whether or not you eat meat youre going to be lacking some of the crucial building blocks your body needs to continuously support its homeostasis and vitality. The real truth is that you need to combine different foods from the plant kingdom to give you complete nutrition, not complete protein. To make it simple, just focus on eating as diverse a diet as you can and you will have enough protein, a very healthy body and a nutrition rich lifestyle.

MYTH #9
Our bodies need protein for glycolysis to convert into ATP I have a running debate with an associate of mine who happens to be a chemist and on the Paleo diet. She doesnt know yet but Ive always used our debates to fuel my personal education on the matter of health and veganism and while there are many similarities between our personal theories on nutrition there are some obvious holes in her assertions and thus her conclusions.

One such debate weve had was over the basic unit for energy production (ATP) in most life forms and the most efficient way to create it. Shes still hanging out in the protein camp but Ive always been of the carbohydrate persuasion, which provides simple sugars the most efficiently for our bodies. The thing I cant wrap my brain around is how she thinks its easier for our bodies to break down protein into glucose which is a seriously complicated and long series of chemical reactions rather than just eating a piece of fruit which has plenty of simple sugars that are easily converted into glucose. I suppose I can see her point when I consider how fast sugar is metabolized. We all know what a sugar high feels like and thats what were talking about here. If you eat sugar it converts rapidly into ATP and gives you a huge energy rush. So obviously our bodies more easily utilize sugar for energy over protein. Efficiency and even necessity aside I think she and I both agree that we need to eat lots of vegetables and leafy greens to help stabilize our blood sugar and regulate energy production so that we have a steady stream of energy moving through. The place we disagree though is on the matter of fruit versus meat and which one should be included or excluded. She claims that its better to eat complex, heavy, difficult to digest meat so that hours later you still have energy. She also claims that eating fruit is bad for your health and that its far too sugary for proper metabolization. What I cant get over though is the fact that fruit is naturally full of fiber which helps to modulate sugar uptake and thus give a totally different effect on the body than sucking down a sugary drink or even eating a hunk of bread which we both shy away from. After all, I can get efficiency and lasting power from my vegan diet. And why she may say that her meals keep her full longer I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that ultimately Im getting far better nutrition. You just cant cut the food group thats the most attractive to the human senses out of your life and expect to still have everything your body needs.

MYTH #10
Milk products are healthy Got Milk? This popular slogan promoting dairy products has been beamed through nearly every advertising stream in existence for the past ten or more years. Drinking milk and eating cheese has long been accepted as a convenient way to keep our bodies healthy and as the best method for providing us with dietary calcium. Most of us have never even thought to question whether or not milk was indeed a healthy food at all. Many people have become aware of the problems caused by drinking milk from their experiences with allergies and intolerances. Of course the majority of people with such issues still try to find ways around giving up dairy completely. Theyd rather chemically alter milk to separate and remove the lactose than choose an alternative.

Cows that have been given growth hormones present one of the biggest dangers with cows milk. These hormones pass through the milk and even into municipal water supplies and when theyre consumed they disrupt the natural onset of breast development and menstruation in girls who come into contact with contaminated milk or water. For the last two decades these hormones have been bringing the average age of sexual maturity for girls down from 16 to 12! Its also arguable that these hormones have been a major player in increasing obesity in children of both sexes by adding unnatural amounts of estrogen to their bodies. Also, homogenization prevents milk from separating by coagulating the fats and proteins, which essentially binds them in such a way that their molecular structure resembles plastic. Its about as digestible as plastic too and this is a big factor in cases of dairy intolerance. And then what to do with the milk that becomes tainted with actual blood? Well, that becomes what we all like to think of as chocolate milk. Chocolate sure is a clever way to disguise milk that looks pink when it should be white. Lets also consider that these cows all the while being fed drugs and hormones are also eating a slew of unnatural foods that corrupt their digestive systems and make them ill. They eat pesticide-laden crops like soy and wheat and genetically modified crops like corn. After a life of eating these toxins these poisons build up in their tissues so that by the time you get the milk or the meat you have an ultra concentration of this carcinogenic junk far higher than on the most intensely sprayed lettuce or strawberries! Dont you find it a bit odd that milk products, like other animal products, are considered healthy when they bioaccumulate all those toxins that circulate in our environment and in the food system? So, maybe youve decided that factory farmed, conventional milk products arent for you. Perhaps youve sought out the best milk you can find from pasture-raised animals who have full lives and lasting relationships with their offspring. Your favorite organic dairy treats their cows well and the farmers love them. You may have evaded the pain and suffering that can come from the dairy industry but there are a few other issues yet to reconcile. I implore you to take some time to ponder why it is that humans drink milk at all. Its no big secret that cow milk was created for baby cows, not baby humans and definitely not adult humans. Milk is species specific. Human babies dont grow to weigh 200-400 pounds in their first few years of life or hopefully ever. The fat and protein ratios are far higher in cow milk than they are in human breast milk and cow milk doesnt provide the proper antibodies, enzymes, or probiotics for human infants. Humans are also the only species on the planet that drink milk outside of infancy. I find it strange and a bit unusual that is actually acceptable in our society. There are plenty of other health reasons to give up dairy too. It may seem a bit counterintuitive but milk makes your body acidic. Youd think that alkaline mineral calcium we hear so much about would reflect in the pH of this creamy liquid but the opposite is true. The other minerals and protein cause acidity after your body digests them. The problem here is that acidity in the body creates a breeding ground for nearly every disease we know of. From candida to cancer they all take root in an acidic environment. Dairy products also create inflammation due to your bodys effort to rid itself of the indigestible material. One of the ways your body protects itself from outside invaders is by producing mucous. Much the same way you have an excess of mucous

when you get sick, milk triggers a similar reaction to act as a buffer and long-term exposure to dairy can cause and contribute to respiratory illnesses like asthma. A far better choice for your morning cereal or your baking needs is a cholesterol free nut or seed milk. There are many packaged options to choose from like almond, coconut, rice, oat, hazelnut and hemp milk. Any of these can be purchased from grocery stores or even made fresh at home with little effort. A switch to non-dairy milks may take some getting used to but I assure you that youll come to prefer them to dairy sooner than you might think.

MYTH #11
Being vegan doesnt supply enough calcium Have you tried to drink plenty of milk to make sure youre getting enough calcium? Hopefully not, because the truth is that if youre not getting enough magnesium along with it youre not absorbing calcium either. In fact, taking excess amounts of calcium can lead to ossification of your joints and leave bony deposits called bone spurs if its not properly assimilated. And, it does nothing to stave off osteoporosis, which is actually higher among women who consume dairy. As with many other aspects of nutrition calcium is a very misunderstood mineral and little about the reality of our calcium absorption is allowed to circulate within our general knowledge. There is significant evidence that any biological organism can in fact transmute certain minerals into others. In particular there have been many experiments that have proven the metamorphosis of potassium or silica into calcium. One such experiment revealed that even when a laying hen had no dietary source of calcium she was still able to produce normal eggs with eggshells made of calcium! The reactions needed to change one mineral into another are said by many to only occur on the level of nuclear fusion, but biological evidence challenges this idea. Other successful experiments have also been conducted wherein radioactive material has been converted by particular cultures of microorganisms into benign elements by the process of biological transmutation. All sorts of seemingly miraculous chemical magic happens within our bodies and much of it has yet to be discovered. So while this process of minerals being changed by the body is little understood and even less studied, it is happening. However, if you prefer to have some extra health assurance there are plenty of calcium rich foods that are easy to come by. Good sources of both calcium and magnesium are almonds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, sea vegetables, lentils, many types of beans, figs, oranges, peanuts, broccoli, collard greens, and kale.

MYTH #12
Vegan diets arent healthy One of the main reasons most people adopt a vegan diet is to improve their health! Vegans are far more likely than their meat-eating counterparts to meal plan better than their non-vegan counterparts to eat a wider variety of fruits, vegetables, greens, nuts, and seeds. This simple fact alone should tell us that vegan diets are healthy. There isnt a single diet fad, nutritionist, or doctor who doesnt push us to add more veggies into our daily fare and for most vegans they become the largest dietary staple. The World Health Organization (WHO) even recognizes a well-planned vegan diet as being healthy and offers tips on proper diet requirements for vegans! I suppose this MYTH is a bit outdated but for people who dont tend to get much variation in their diets as meat-eaters, I suppose it could be concerning to remove a huge staple. Rather than an awareness of the multitude of edible plants we have available its human tendency to see the hole left behind by what youve removed. Going vegan can be a big change but it doesnt have to be. I prefer to encourage people to add in healthy foods rather than restrict all of their meat or dairy when first starting out. Adding a vegan meal into a day, then doing an all vegan day is very easy for most to do. This way youll already be forming healthier habits and when youre ready you can make a switch to all vegan without fear of starvation or a sense of missing anything.

MYTH #13
Vegans have too many rules about what they can eat When you first make the switch from a Standard American Diet (SAD) to a vegan diet it can seem like youre giving up a lot. Like there are endless restrictions and temptations beyond a fence of rules and every food you like happens to be on the wrong side. But really veganism is incredibly simple. Meat eaters on the other hand have lots of rules and taboos. No pork for some, no cows for others, no horse, dog, or cat in America while theyre eaten in many other countries. And then there are all the dangers of bacterial contamination when handling, preparing, cooking, and storing meat and all the rules that come along with it. There are rules from your doctor on portion control and rules about steaming rather than frying. Rules about red meat or fish being okay for your health while others must be avoided. Plus you cant eat it raw or even slightly undercooked depending on the type of meat without the looming possibility of life-threatening illness.

Vegans only have one rule; dont eat anything that comes from an animal! You dont have to cook it to a high temperature or be diligent about preventing cross-contamination because vegetables are completely safe unless contaminated by animal agriculture. You dont even have to have a perfectly healthy diet as a vegan. There are plenty of junk foods, which I wont recommend, but for the sake of clarity, they are worth mentioning. You can now find vegan versions of all of your classic favorites too. Everything from sub sandwiches with extra mayo to chocolate or even pizza can be found vegan. You have options that will allow you to remain vegan but for your health... you may just want to ignore some of them. For binge night though, you can get pretty much anything you want as a vegan dish, and yes, it is fun to experiment once in a while.

MYTH #14
Everything is good for you in small amounts This MYTH is based on the theory that nothing can hurt you in small amounts and that it may even be good for you. When it comes to health and in particular healing, the truth is quite contrary. The best rule to live by if you really want to get healthy and feel great is that its what you leave out completely that will most greatly contribute to your health. If youve ever experienced allergies, chances are you may have gone on an elimination diet to see if you can pinpoint the trigger. This translates into eating only a few types of foods that are unlikely to be the cause of an allergy. As you add foods back in you can easily isolate the ones that are giving you issues. Even if you identified your dietary intolerances or allergies in other ways, then you well know how essential it is to leave these foods out of your diet completely lest you become inundated with mild to severe discomfort or even immediately life threatening reactions. Well the problem is that most of us dont realize what were intolerant to for a long time if ever. Milk for instance is not designed to be digested by humans and likewise, were not designed to break it down effectively. A child who is born lactose intolerance inherits this trait from its mother who is also lactose intolerant. It may take several generations for an obvious overt intolerance to develop into an allergy but when you consume foods that are inappropriate for your body you enter the beginning phases of disease and pass the predisposition down onto your children. So we can see that small amounts of milk are not only bad for us because they dont contribute to our health, they are slowly and cumulatively damaging. A little bit irritates your insides, more will start creating health problems, and a lot will pretty much guarantee that you manifest a disease and pass down the trait to your offspring. A man in his late forties who has high blood pressure and high cholesterol might be advised to cut back on red meat and junk food. Of course if this man were used to eating such food at every meal he may cut it back to a hamburger only twice a week instead of every other day. Of

course there is no guarantee that his health will improve much at all or that this measure will prevent that next burger from being the one that pushes his heart over the line. In fact, this scenario is entirely likely unless this man chooses to firmly eradicate junk food from his life altogether. So just because a 10-year-old girl isnt going to have a heart attack from eating a hamburger does it automatically mean that a burger will be good for her body if she eats it? Absolutely not. Shes doing damage. Maybe not irreparable damage, but from my experience it is something that will accumulate until shes ready to clean house and heal from it. There is a reason that so many babies regurgitate much of the food theyre given. Babies fed breast milk from mothers who eat healthy food and then feed their babies fresh organic fruits and vegetables rarely spit up. Its the babies who are bottle fed and weaned onto cereals as a starting food, then progressively fed diets that include dairy and meats and cheeses that end up having major health crises down the road. Spitting up is their way of telling you they cant digest what youre feeding them. Its not normal and its definitely not healthy. A little bit of sulfur dioxide in preserved fruit can trigger an asthma attack, a cheeseburger can cause a heart attack, and even a little bit of dairy causes inflammation and mucous production as your body tries to prevent assimilation and usher the foreign substance out. It is most often true that its what we leave out entirely that most determines our level of health.

MYTH #15
Vegan men are weak and impotent Possibly the biggest misjudgment about vegans ever is that theyre weak. The 400-pound mountain gorillas in Africa are vegans and they could literally rip your arms off! Cows and elephants are vegans too and they dont seem to have any problems keeping weight on or developing sufficient muscle mass. So why does this absolutely silly MYTH persist that real men eat meat? I suppose this one has its roots tied in with the machismo, animal drive to dominate and defend. (Apparently youre only a man if you kill animals?) And it didnt help that the original vegan men were on the slightly more effeminate and empathetic side you know the type, skinny, artsy, and sensitive. It was easy to stereotype the first wave of vegans because they looked different and thought outside the box. This may have given people in the general populace the impression that being a vegan would make you less masculine or less virile in general. Nothing could be further from the truth. Men and women who eat meat are getting more than meets the eye when they chow down on their beloved steak. You see, when animals are slaughtered their bodies produce massive amounts of adrenaline just like our bodies do when we sense impending danger or experience trauma. So when a cow dies its muscles (meat) are saturated with adrenaline. That means that when you eat meat, youre getting an adrenaline high along with your meal. This not only

gives the false impression that you feel strong and virile, it also throws off your bodys own hormone production to compensate for what youre getting through your diet. When you cut the meat out of your diet your body may indeed go through a withdrawal because of the lack of adrenaline in your food. You may feel for a time as though you have less energy and youre likely to lose some weight at the same time. You may also feel cravings to eat meat during your initial fast from it but not only will this pass, but when it does youll have far more energy than you did before. You may in fact feel younger and stronger than you remember feeling in years or ever before in your life. When you eat a healthy vegan diet you not only get all of the nutrition your body needs to function optimally which is severely lacking in diets that contain meat you heal the damage caused to every system in your body by a diet full of difficult to digest meat and dairy. This means that your lung capacity will increase and your cardiovascular system will get stronger and have more endurance during physical exertion. Your endocrine system will heal so that you have the proper amounts of the right hormones for your sex instead of the hormones of other animals. With improved skin health and a more pleasant smell a strong, healthy vegan is far more attractive than even the healthiest meat eater. If you still arent convinced that vegans can hold their weight against meat-eaters then check out some of the many vegan athletes like Olympic Gold Medalist/Olympian of the Century Carl Lewis, Ultraman/triathlete Rich Roll, Mike Tyson, Ultimate Fighting Champion Mac Danzig, professional football player Eric Johnson, professional NBA player Salim Stoudamire, Keith Holmes, Brendan Brazier, and many others plus body builders like Charlie Able, Robert Cheeke, Giacomo Marchese, and Mike Mahler.

MYTH #16
Vegans dont get enough iron Iron is easy to get if you eat plenty of leafy greens. Most people are used to getting their main iron source in the form of meat because animal blood and flesh like that of humans is iron rich. There is good news though for anyone who prefers plant sources of iron though. Chlorophyll, the green pigment that gives most plants their emerald glow, has a nearly identical molecular structure to hemoglobin, the red pigment in blood, and is just as iron rich. Its possible for anyone to become iron deficient regardless of whether they eat meat or not. It all depends on the quality of your diet. No matter your daily diet make sure you include a variety of greens along with some cruciferous veggies, soy products like tempeh or tofu, and beans, lentils, quinoa, apricots, prunes, raisins, figs, tahini, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, peaches, cherries, or one of the several different types of edible algae like spirulina. And eat them with foods that are high in vitamin-C to increase your rate of absorption. You should also avoid eating grains like wheat, rice, oats, or corn along with your high iron meals as a certain type of iron binding compound called inositol hexaphosphate decreases the

rate at which its absorbed. Instead, opt for quinoa, which is not technically a grain but does happen to be iron rich. You could also skip the grains altogether. This way in addition to iron youll also be properly combining your food for better digestion all around.

MYTH #17
Vegans easily get b12 deficiencies You may not know this, but B12 deficiencies are actually higher among meat-eaters than among vegetarians or vegans. This is largely due to the fact that vegans and vegetarians are far more likely to supplement this essential vitamin. Its our food supply that is generally lacking in B12, which causes this deficiency. This is partly due to the fact that we wash most of our produce and that the soil we grow our food in is little more than glorified dirt thats almost completely lacking in the normal and natural microorganisms that live in rich soil. There is actually a lot of speculation as to where we get our B12 from naturally. Some say its produced by microscopic bacteria that live within our own bodies and others insist it can only be supplied by meat and dairy. Still there is evidence that we can find enough of this essential vitamin in various types of algae. Chances are, no matter what your dietary preferences, you could benefit from at least occasional supplementation. Fortunately its an easy one to supplement and doing so cuts out a huge risk to your health that I personally would rather not take.

MYTH #18
Youll eat nothing but carrots, celery & lettuce Oh if you only knew! As creatures of habit, once we find foods we like we tend to eat them often and many of us resist trying new and unfamiliar foods at all after finding our favorites. This is a great blunder that most of us have been guilty of at least at one point or another in our lives. When you go vegan its like opening a door to a world of edibles that you never knew existed! There are endless new foods to try and even more combinations and flavors to experience and not to mention, healthier versions of your old favorites. Rather than thinking salad and potatoes, think brownies, cheesecakes, truffles, potpies, stews, stir fries and lasagna all vegan and made with high quality ingredients! At this point, countless books, blogs, and websites have been dedicated to vegan cooking and you can easily find multiple recipes for any traditional dish that you what to veganize. Weve even authored ten such books ourselves which you can easily find by searching on Bo Rinaldi or Mark Reinfeld. These books will instill in you the basic tools, techniques and tricks for making delicious vegan meals and will arm you with a healthy repertoire of vegan recipes that range from simple and familiar to exotic and out-of-this-world!

Vegan food can be as simple or as gourmet as you want it to be and there really are no limits on what you can come up with on your own once you get the hang of it. Remember that variation is the key to success in your health and is incredibly helpful for keeping you on track with your vegan diet. If you go vegan and get excited about food then you wont be tempted to slip into old eating habits or search out comfort in the unhealthy foods youve been eating since childhood. Just remember that you dont have to restrict yourself from the foods you love. You just need to discover creative ways to convert some of them into vegan fare. You might even find that you prefer your new vegan recipes over more, ehem, traditional ones. In my personal experience when you eat healthier food that just hits the spot and you begin to feel better at the same time youll never look back at your old lifestyle. It wont even be an option.

MYTH #19
Vegan food isnt gourmet or interesting Vegan food can be made to taste like anything. Just like meat products, its in the seasoning and texture. A good sauce can transform even those little brussel sprouts into amazing fare. You do have to learn how to use new ingredients but when you get comfortable with them youll find that your gourmet, vegan dishes are far more delicious and satisfying than any meat youve ever had! Forget about tofu and pasta, we want chocolate mousse and sundried tomato stuffed squash! Anything from breakfast to a late night snack, from oatmeal to risotto or a fabulous cake can be made vegan and incredibly gourmet. Watermelon sorbet with a lime twist, tempeh tacos with mild green mol, pumpkin pie with pecan praline, parsnip and purple potato mash with shitake gravy, orange cayenne truffles, matcha lattes, rustic caramelized onion and pesto pizza, or even a silky smooth homemade mac-and-cheese. Now if that doesnt have your mouth watering then youve never tasted some of the better things in life. Its all possible to make vegan. And gourmet doesnt have to mean complicated either! You dont need to use exotic ingredients that you can only purchase online. It all just takes a bit of finesse and an open mind to spice up your menu. Youll need to visit new aisles in your grocery store, make friends with a local health food store and meet the local farmers at the farmers market, but youll certainly be able to rustle up some of the most fantastic ingredients from right in your own hometown. Its good for the local economy too!

MYTH #20
Vegetables dont taste good I feel for the multitudes of people out there who have been fed overcooked and lifeless vegetables. Im truly sorry that someone put a taste in your mouth so bitter that the memory attaches itself to anything green, grown in the ground, or remotely resembling anything healthy. I cant tell you what a disservice has been done to those who claim not to like vegetables. Of course when your taste buds are always being blasted with tons of salt, sugar, and chemical flavor enhancers it can be difficult to derive pleasure from our humble friends from the vegetable kingdom. The truth is that vegetables taste amazing. They taste great all by themselves, picked fresh, unseasoned, and raw. But they also taste incredible lightly cooked, and seasoned well. If you dont already agree with me that vegetables of all kinds are designed for our health and long life, then take heart that in several weeks after removing the chemicals from your diet you should come upon a revelation of just how healthy you feel living more simply and naturally. Eat some lightly steamed broccoli, and it may come as a shock but there in all its green glory lays an almost perfect food, all to itself. Tender, yet succulent and juicy with a complex flavor all its own and a subtle sweetness that begs to be enjoyed all on its own. And for those of us who just crave some real flavor, there are so many options at our fingertips that naming them all would make you think you were reading a dictionary. For the sake of intrigue though Ill let you in on some of my personal favorites for seasoning steamed veggies and adding flavor to my sauces, soups, salads, and dips. Among the most versatile are certainly: tamari, chipotle, nutritional yeast, lemon pepper, sesame oil, miso, seaweeds, herbs, and spices. Choosing what you want to play with simply depends on what sort of mood youre in and what youre trying to make. And believe me, you can make anything taste amazing with some good seasoning. You can whip up a south of the border slaw by adding a bit of stone ground mustard and a pinch of chipotle to your vegan dressing and creating a sensational dip to accompany your boring vegetables is as easy as throwing some cashews, miso, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast into a blender. Pour some curried coconut milk over your broccoli and some tamari and tamarind into your eggplant casserole. Dont be afraid to get adventurous with your food but you should also feel free to reference recipes to avoid some major kitchen disasters which weve all gone through while honing our skills as vegan chefs. Sooner than you think youll be on your way to getting rave reviews from your family, compliments from everyone around you as you improve your health and your physique, or even praise from your physician for how healthy youve become as they ask what it is youre doing. Then you can boast that all you do is eat your veggies!

MYTH #21
Being a vegan will ruin your social life My friends will all think Im crazy. My family wont understand. How can I go out to restaurants or bars? Will I have to bring my own food to social events? These are usually among the fears many have about how making a major lifestyle change like going vegan will change their lives. It may seem like youre going to need to sacrifice things you love in order to maintain your values. But depending on your priorities and your direction in life this doesnt have to be the case for you. If you feel strongly about your decision you need to educate yourself about veganism as much as possible so that you have answers to the questions that are sure to help you on your way. Youll also need to keep in mind that the best way to educate others is to let them come to you with questions rather than volunteering information they may not be ready or willing to receive. Going vegan changes people. It makes them stronger in their personal values and morals. It helps build character. Youll soon have to find new ways to relate to the people around you as you go through your personal transformation and you need to keep your priorities in sight, which is a true celebration of LIFE. Remember that because you are the one undergoing a major life change youll need to be the one to redefine the parameters of your relationships. That means youll need to exercise lots of patience when dealing with MYTHs and misinformation or even accusations. Try to keep in mind how you would have liked to be approached by a vegan friend before you made the switch. And you might also just give them a copy of this little book! Going vegan wont alter your important relationships much unless you make it a driving force for change. The people who love you will want to see you thrive and when they do you can be a source of inspiration for them too. Its also true that you may encounter resistance from some of the people who are close to you so it will be important for you to be well educated on the subject of veganism so that you can handle questions or interrogations from people who will question your motives, and whether or not it will be good for your health to stop eating animal products. Although, some people do find that they start having difficulty relating to people they got along with fine before going vegan. There are several reasons for this. First, nearly everyone goes through a period of difficulty while learning how to balance their passion and dedication to veganism with a desire to share it with the people around them. But if youre overly vocal or pushy about your new lifestyle it can be a real turnoff for lots of people too. The second reason is that you may also find that you just dont enjoy being around some of the people you used to be friends with anymore. When we experience any kind of transformation our perception of the world, the way it works, its faults, its virtues, and our place in it changes too. Its entirely likely that you wont be as interested in some of your old pastimes,

particularly ones that are less than helpful for your personal evolution, and this can distance you from acquaintances or casual friends. Its important to know that this is an ongoing process in our lives. As we grow and change so do our surroundings, and adopting a vegan lifestyle really isnt an exception. If youre really dedicated to keeping the relationships you already have it will take some work on your part to balance your values with your acceptance of others. The key here is always patience. People dont like to be preached to and despite your best intentions the only way to navigate relationships with people who dont share your values is to practice acceptance and patience. Make a few new vegan friends and bring vegan dishes to share at your old buddys barbeque and take it day by day, as everyone will be impressed by your new lifestyle, vitality, knowledge and conviction.

MYTH #22
Eating a vegan diet is very expensive Being vegan in particular is no more expensive than eating any other intentionally planned healthy diet. Our food system is pretty backward when it comes to food and cost. It takes money to grow food, more money to harvest it, ship it, and then even more to process it into whatever end product its destined to become. You would think then that eating fresh produce instead of processed or prepared foods would cost less money. It doesnt though. Its cheaper to buy a loaf of heavily processed white bread with over 20 different ingredients in it than to buy a pound of whole grain in many instances. In a world where we see government subsidies going to factory farmed meat producers and to famers who choose to grow with pesticides and GMOs it gives a skewed perspective that it costs more to grow and eat health food than it does to eat junk. Unfortunately at this time in our history there is vested interest in growing food that is less healthy because chemical and pharmaceutical companies have their hands in the pockets of government officials who then endorse these harmful and unsustainable methods of raising meat and growing food. And so eating healthy, nutritionally rich food does cost more up front than eating nutritionally dead fast food. Thats true of diets that include meat and diets that dont. The meat and dairy industry receive gigantic government subsidies every year that allow them to sell meat and dairy for dirt-cheap. The same is true of industrial crops like wheat and corn. The fact is that if you want to eat healthy food, it will cost you a bit more up front but whether or not youre vegan has nothing to do with it. It simply saves on health care costs in the future and when you buy local, eat simply and follow the concepts here and at our websites, you will find it will save you in the long run with most everything involving health, beauty and wellness.

MYTH #23
Being vegan isnt better for the environment Humans have been raising livestock for thousands of years right? And livestock are a natural part of a healthy ecosystem arent they? After all theyve been roaming the globe for millions of years. Why would raising them for food be any different than letting them roam in wild herds? Well if youve ever driven passed a factory farm and seen (or smelled) it, then there would be no question that something is definitely wrong there. Traditionally animals were taken out to pasture and allowed to roam free as they grazed over land that was rotated as the grass grew to feed them. But in these days of modern industrialized farming animals are kept in such close quarters that they live in a space where they can hardly move at all. Theyre fed unnatural diets to fatten them, and meat byproducts that produce e coli outbreaks that contaminate water sources and plant food crops. Statistically speaking, animal agriculture alone accounts for half of the fresh water consumption in the US. It also makes up 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions, although this percentage contains gases that are by far more deadly to our atmosphere than many other contributors. Also, 65% of the nitrous oxide caused by human activity comes from animal lots, and this gas is 296 times as strong an insulator as carbon dioxide! The methane output from animal lots account for 37% of all the methane we produce and this gas is 23 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. Additionally, 64% of the ammonia we create comes from raising animals and when this stuff gets into our atmosphere it falls back to the earth as acid rain! Runoff tainted with antibiotics, hormones, e coli, and salmonella seeps into the groundwater and finds its ways into rivers and streams and neighboring farms polluting our waterways more than every other source of water pollution combined. Raising livestock is even more dangerous than hydro-fracking? In fact the differences in the carbon footprint of a vegan and a meat-eater are so astonishing that it can be likened to the difference between someone who uses a bicycle for transportation and someone who drives a hummer around all day.

MYTH #24
Being a vegan is less sustainable than being a local eating omnivore There is a lot of hype from people who eat meat about how its more sustainable to eat locally produced meat than to ship produce from far away. While its always best to eat local, pound for pound, animals produced for food local or not still pollute our environment more than importing produce from across the world!

Animals raised for food also consume a huge amount of our resources. It takes roughly 15 pounds of grain and 2,500 gallons of water to make one pound of beef! While a vegan can be fed for one whole year on a meager one-sixth an acre of land, people who eat meat need at least 20 times more space to feed them for the same amount of time. And livestock already cover 30% of our arable land. Just imagine what we could do will all of our available farmland if we raised food crops for humans instead of animals destined for slaughter. If we want a sustainable solution to our global food crisis and to save children all over the world from starvation then we need a world that is primarily vegan to emerge. Its in fact very true that we have enough land to feed every human living in this world right now. I think its a huge problem that we waste food rather than give it to the needy and that we raise animals for food instead of raising crops that we can share with those who are in danger of starvation. So lets get something straight here Cows and other farm animals need food right? And they need water. So, we end up clearing land which depletes the Earths ability to absorb heat and radiation and helps raise the global temperature to grow food crops for animals which also uses tons of our precious fresh water and instead of feeding the food grown on this land to humans we feed it to animals who also need massive amounts of land to live on and then in turn these animals pollute our air and water, and destroy our soil and somehow this is more sustainable than just eating a salad or some fruit? OK, sure To be fair Ill admit that about 5% of US animal agriculture is relatively sustainable, but if all meat and animal products were sustainably produced, we wouldnt have enough land to feed the number of animals currently being used for meat, eggs, and milk. Somethings got to give here. Either every animal raised for human consumption needs to be confined to torturous conditions and raised in squalor, making each other and the people who come into contact with their agricultural runoff sick, or we need to use all of our land for roaming animals so that people can continue eating the amounts of meat they eat now. Suddenly, Thai coconuts, Florida oranges, and off-season Mexican grown tomatoes are looking like far more sustainable options. Buy local, eat local, go vegan and live simply and you will affect your entire community and the world!

MYTH #25
Fruits have too much sugar and should be used in moderation Arguments in support of this MYTH come mainly from people who eat some sort of variation of the Paleo diet. Proponents of this claim that through human intervention in naturally occurring plant breeding, weve encouraged fruit to hybridize into versions that contain more sugar than their ancestors. While most fruit varieties have been selectively bred for their sweetness over other varieties they have not been genetically tampered with to encourage this desirable trait. First, one might argue that the ancestors of the modern cow were not bigger than a large pig and that our modern livestock have also been bred selectively to express certain traits.

But, onto the topic of fruit sugar Fruit is a naturally occurring food that humans and other primates are naturally attracted to. Despite our selective breeding there are plenty of fruits that have always been sweet like bananas, figs, melons and dates. It may be true that you can overeat fruit, as with anything taken in excess, but its actually very difficult to do unless you arent eating anything else. Of course its always good to balance your fruit intake in moderation and variety to make sure youre getting enough variation of nutrients. Like I just mentioned, you can overeat fruit. If youre eating more sugar than youre burning off then technically youre eating too much of it. Fortunately the threshold is fairly high for fruit sugar because our bodies convert it very efficiently into energy. But as with anything fat and protein included if you eat more than you are using for replenishing your energy, this will be stored as fat in your body. Earlier in this book I talked explained the fact that our digestive systems are nearly identical to primates that eat a primarily fruit and leafy green based diet. This is an important part of the fruit debate as we can draw a perfect diagram of what our normal diets should be by modeling them after our closely related primate cousins. Now other primates have different colonies of bacteria in their digestive tract so the particular foods we should all eat will vary slightly but the common denominator is that we all thrive on some types of leafy greens, fruits, nuts, seeds, flowers and herbs. No matter where you are in your health journey, you can make this lifestyle easily work for you. If you have a metabolic disorder try eating lots of non-sweet fruits like cucumbers and bell peppers instead of tropical fruits. And if you find you need more protein-rich foods eat plenty of greens, nuts, seeds, and seaweed. There is always a way to tweak your diet into personal perfection and the resources provided here will provide an easy guide.

MYTH #26
Plants feel pain too Most of us never even stop to consider that plants are alive and may experience pain the way animals do. Although Ive heard the argument more than once that causing bodily damage or pain to a plant is virtually no different than causing pain to an animal and that its a necessary function of reality that goes along with our need to consume food in order to sustain our own bodies. Of course this argument is usually intended to confuse stout vegans and vegetarians and to defend meat eating but its premise just doesnt hold up against the truth. While plants respond to stimuli, theyre systems are built differently than ours. Our central nervous systems are what allow us to experience pressure and impact the way we do and to interpret it as pain but plants are notably lacking in the central nervous system department when compared to animals. However, there is still the argument that all multicellular organisms are able to sense bodily damage and thus experience pain. The question then becomes one of whether or not this pain causes a plant suffering.

Lets examine the obvious differences between plants and animals. One main difference is the way that these entities react to their environment and to various types of stimuli. It is extremely obvious to human perception that an animal is in pain if it is caused bodily harm. Its also easy to observe stress and fear in animals. Plants on the other hand do not overtly demonstrate fear or pain. They dont recoil from an aggressor and they dont struggle and scream violently when harmed, as animals do. Again, this points us to the fact that plants lack a developed central nervous system. To their benefit, when plants are damaged it isnt interpreted as a feeling sense of pain that causes suffering. This is not to say that a plant cant detect when a part of it is damaged, but the signals sent through a plant are far different then that of an animal and they lack the ability to interpret information from their sensory receptors way we do. Instead its a more benign set of events that signals the plant to begin healing the break and it even stimulates new growth and can help a plant become strong and resilient. Plants are designed to regenerate easily, animals to procreate which can be difficult. It has been proven that a plant exists to feed us and derives great joy from that simple fulfillment, while an animal will resist its demise just as much as you.

MYTH #27
You still have to kill a plant to eat it so its essentially non-different First of all, I want to mention the fact that the precise moment when a plant undergoes a death similar to an animal is mostly unknown. The rate of decay is far slower in plants and many plant parts can be taken as cuttings that will not only recover from being separated from the whole plant but will even go on to form its own roots and become an independent plant. This can be a difficult position to defend for vegans though. What do you say when someone tells you that youre a murderer for killing plants? The truth is that your very existence kills millions of things ever moment of your life. As your body performs its most basic functions like digestion and breathing millions of bacteria die every moment and as you walk upon the earth insects, dust mites, and other microscopic life forms certainly meet with their demise. Life is important, all of it. But there is an order and a purpose for living things in this world and much of that has no viable alternative. Plants are the most basic form of life that establish the most essential beginnings of the worlds food chain. They are the basic component of life that transmutes energy from the sun into energy that can be harnessed by all other living things. They are the fundamental building block of life on Earth. During every phase of life plants nourish the very existence of the environment around them. They exchange nutrients and gases with the soil, water, and air, which, conditions our environment to become more hospitable to other life forms. When they die naturally they provide compost that enriches the soil and when eaten they transfer living energy and nutrients from the sun and earth to the creature who consumes them.

Animals on the other hand are secondary recipients of the basic components for life. Their tissues are harder and denser and while they concentrate some macronutrients they completely lack most micronutrients like vitamins, enzymes, and phytonutrients. So the truth is that plants are regenerative in nature and their cycle of sprouting, growing, harvesting and consuming is the most natural part of our complex worldwide food system. Plants are a gift that supports our bodies and the Earth, which has generously provided us with all we need to live and maintain our physical bodies.

For more information and the finest vegan recipes and online classes please visit our websites at www.veganfusion.com & www.cookinghealthylesssons.com Thank you for reading this book. Please pass it on and use it with all you know that are interested in health, sustainability and the future of our planet. MAY ALL BEINGS LIVE IN PEACE AND HARMONY WITH COMPASSION, TOLERANCE AND THE LOVE FOR ALL LIVING BEINGS Bo Rinaldi and everyone at Vegan Fusion and Cooking Healthy Lessons

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OneDegree Publishing is a group of kindred spirits working in the area of positive transformation in the areas of health, wealth, wellness, mental clarity and enterprise. We strive to provide the finest services and products that are available today, all created, owned and offered exclusively at OneDegree Publishing e. If you want more information about us, what we do and what we might be able to offer you, please email us at info@onedegreePublishing.com to tell us how we might serve you.

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Barry Mack
(www.barrymackart.com)

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A symbol of the power of light that inspires us to look inward to heal ourselves and outward to heal our world and the interlinking and overlapping of all our energies and creative forces.

The author has written the following books:

The Complete Idiots Guide to Eating Raw

"Recipes so good you may want to eat this book!"- Woody Harrelson

The Complete Idiots Guide to Low Fat Vegan Recipes The Complete Idiots Guide to Green Smoothies The Complete Idiots Guide to Juice Fasting Vegan Fusion World Cuisine
Winner of 9 international awards including: Gourmand Award - Best Veg Cookbook in the USA Martha Stewart Omnimedia Nautilus Award - "Best Book by a Small Press" PETA Proggy Award - Best New Cookbook VegNews - Cookbook of the Year USA.Booknews.com - Best Veg Cookbook And more!

Be sure to check out www.veganfusion.com and www.cookinghealthylesssons.com to purchase our books and to sign up for our free Vegan Fusion Newsletter, as well as learn about our World Wide Vegan Chef Training Classes. If you have not joined our online Cooking Classes, please sign up at www.veganfusion.com/lessons . Have you experienced an increase in your health by going vegan or gluten free? Do you have a story you want to share? Please email us at info@veganfusion.com .