healthier eating

[gusl]

Dear LJ Genie,

Besides soy milk, I have now added brown bread to my diet. It's been surprisingly easy.

I'd still like to add a vegetable or two to put in my sandwiches. Can you think of something easy and practical for a picky beginner like me?

Comments

[xuande.livejournal.com]

Raw veggies I like on sandwiches are cucumbers, tomatoes, spinach (fresh, because when canned or frozen it gets too slimy), and cabbage (pickled or raw). The rest of my family likes watercress, but I can't stand the stuff. It has a very strong flavor.

I also like to sautee some vegetables for sandwiches. It's easy enough to do: put some oil or butter (a tablespoon or two is usually adequate) in a frying pan or skillet, heat it on medium-high until a veggie placed in it makes frying noises, and then cook the vegetables until they get the desired texture, frequently stirring if the food is diced, flipping once if the food is sliced. I like sliced zucchini, mushrooms, and diced onions cooked this way. If you add peeled garlic or herbs (I like oregano or tarragon) to the oil while it is heating, they'll infuse it with some of their flavor, in turn flavoring the food. But remove the garlic when it starts to change color, or else it will give the oil a bitter flavor.

[mathemajician.livejournal.com]

Why is soy milk more healthy?

(I don't have a particular reason for arguing that it is not, I just don't know why it would be.)

If you want more fruit in your diet I would recommend Lassi, and Indian drink. Just get 200 g of unsweetened yogurt (I use the 0.2% fat stuff), throw in a few bits of fruit (a couple of bananas for example) and a bit of fruit juice (to make it a bit more liquid) and blend. Pulse the blending to make sure you don't get lumps. This way I get two or three more items of fruit in my diet each day in the form of a drink. It also increased my liquid intake which is good too. For the juice I use about 100 ml of multi vitamin juice and so get about 1/3 of my recommended daily allowance of lots of things in the drink at the same time.

[pbrane.livejournal.com]

Soy milk, in addition to being a low-fat, BGH-free, moderately high protein food, it also has lots of useful amino acids (unlike most foods, it is a "complete protein"), among many other things.

Plus, lots of people have slight lactose intolerances that they hardly notice, but if they drink a lot of cow milk they end up stressing their immune systems because of it.

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

does fat-free milk have lactose? I think I am slightly sensitive to milk, even though I used to drink lots of it all the time.

[pbrane.livejournal.com]

yep, it's still got lactose. Lactose is the milk *sugar*, and is still there when you get rid of the cream. There is, however, "lactose-free" milk as well, which is obtained by adding lactase (the enzyme which processes lactose) to the milk.

[bram.livejournal.com]

I stay away from soy milk (even though I'm going vegan). The genisten (sp?) in soy may rot the brain. There was a study in Hawaii a few years ago in which men who ate the most soy fell behind more years of education as they grew older. This is easily googled, though it is only one study.

[bram.livejournal.com]

Also, I believe that protein is vastly over-rated.

[pbrane.livejournal.com]

protein? Um... don't we kinda need that?

[bram.livejournal.com]

I didn't say you don't need it!

US RDA is about 55 grams, right?

Breakfast: 2 bowls of oatmeal. Say that's about 12 grams of protein.

Lunch:

One slice of bread is about 6 grams, right?

One sandwich is 2 slices of bread. Two of them (ignoring protein inside) is 24 grams of protein.

Dinner: 2 bowls of rice or 2 servings of spaghetti with a sauce containing nuts or seeds. That's about 18 grams of protein.

Snack before bed: 2 slices of pita bread with hummus (garbonzo/sesame). Say that's also 18 grams of protein.

Grand total: 12+24+18+18=72 grams of protein on a typical day, far exceeding what I need.

[pbrane.livejournal.com]

you have a vegan diet without soy? no tofu?

[bram.livejournal.com]

I was pisco-vegetarian until a couple of weeks ago. I was never concerned about protein--only about omega-3 fatty acids. Now I can get those from microalgae, so I've gone vegan.

Yes, vegan without soy or tofu.

[jmmorton.livejournal.com]

Sauteed peppers and mushrooms are yummy in sandwiches. Beans, though not a vegetable, are really healthy too b/c they have tons of fiber and protein.

[bram.livejournal.com]

Spinach. I'd definitely go for spinach. It's one of the healthiest and easiest. I'd smear avacado on the bread too. Largely 'cause it's yummy.

[jozefpronek.livejournal.com]

Somehow, reading too many opinions on health and food tends to drive me crazy (whether soy is good or bad, whether it may fry your brain, etc.).

These days, I prefer to eat whatever I like (regardless of what is deemed healthy or unhealthy at the moment), but with moderation. But I do try to exercise a lot...

The lassi idea is fantastic, though.

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

hey, my new housemate is one of your ex-students.

[jozefpronek.livejournal.com]

What?!?!? Who is he/she? What a surprise!

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

Edgar Andrade Lotero.

[jozefpronek.livejournal.com]

Send my greetings to Édgar. I knew he was going to go to Amsterdam, but I could not have suspected he would be your housemate!

[dkmnow.livejournal.com]

A whole head of broccoli between two slices of oat bread is pretty much my standard. (*burp*)

I've gone dairy-free for two months, but haven't noticed any difference. I guess the next step is to try going gluten-free, but of course, that's far more difficult.