With Janet Tubbs
Janet Tubbs is a leading authority on being a vegetarian and author of If You Can't Pronounce It, Don't Eat It - A Basic Guide to Veganism. To ASK Janet a veggie question, you can E-mail her at crcjct@ix.netcom.com
Q: I have been a vegan for about 5 years. I take vitamins and when the flu season hits, I take extra C, but I don't like to take the capsules. I know they are made from gelatin and that it comes from cows, but if I don't take the vitamins, I get sick easily. What can I do? What do you do?
A: Many vegans feel as you do about taking capsules. The good news is that you don't have to swallow them. Just open the capsules and empty the contents into a small glass jar. I regularly take a multi-vitamin plus grape seed extract, extra B-complex (all vegetarians need extra B) and at the beginning of the flu season, I add an echinacea/goldenseal combination. Fill the jar with water and orange juice, put the top on and shake. It's a lot easier than trying to swallow all those capsules and you won't be ingesting gelatin.
I'd also suggest fresh garlic every day if you feel yourself coming down with a cold or flu - or if you've already got it. See the two letters below for more ideas about staying healthy and taking care of your body the vegetarian way.
Q: Now that the colder weather is here, I eat a lot of soup. I'm tired of the recipes I've been making for the past few years. Any ideas?
A: Here's a delicious and very quick soup that I think you'd like. It's one of my favorites that I make year 'round and tastes just like the minestrone found in the best restaurants.
Canned kidney beans save time, but if you prefer, you can soak dried beans overnight, drain and cook until almost tender. Add to minestrone with the other vegetables. For a variation, try different kinds of beans: baby limas, Great Northern and pinto alone or in combination. Beans are a great source of protein.
QUICK AND EASY MINESTRONE
Sauté onion, garlic and mixed vegetables in olive oil. Add tomato or marinara sauce and seasonings. Mix well. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until pasta is tender. Double the recipe if you like to freeze individual portions.
Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and crusty French bread. The best real Parmesan cheese is found freshly grated in dairy cases. This can be omitted if you're vegan or you can try one of the grated substitute cheeses on the market.
Q: I know this isn't a question about vegetarianism, but I'm hoping you can help me. Sometimes my eyes get irritated and I'm not sure what to do. My mother said not to buy eyedrops at the store and to make my own but she doesn't know exactly what to use. Can you help?
A: Many people have eyes that are very sensitive to pollution and sunlight. There are also certain diseases that create constant burning or itching, but since you say that it happens only "sometimes", that's probably not something you need to worry about. If you have other symptoms, it might be a good idea to have a check-up, including the eyes.
Smog and automobile exhaust are daily problems in many cities and it's common for one's eyes to feel irritated. Here's a wonderful eyewash that's very soothing. Depending on the strength of the goldenseal, it may sting for a few seconds, but it's normal.
Boil 1/2 cup water, mix in 1/4 tsp goldenseal and 1/4 tsp boric acid. Let cool and drip in the eyes either from a teaspoon or a clean bottle with a dropper, if you have one.
Better yet, if you have an eyecup, pour the mixture into the cup, almost filling it, bend your head slightly, place the cup to your open eye and tilt your head backwards. This will completely bathe the eyeball in the wash and you won't lose most of it trying to pour it in from a teaspoon. Eyecups are available in drugstores.
Q: Now that the flu season is here, is there anything natural I can take to prevent it?
A: It's best to start building up your immune system before the flu season hits. Take extra vitamin C and zinc. Both are available as chewable lozenges, so you can carry them in your pocket. Zand's Insure Formula with goldenseal and echinacea is wonderful as a preventive as well as a remedy if you should get the flu. I take a dropper-full every day year round and increase it during the flu season.
You'll want to take fresh garlic every day, if you don't already. Garlic is probably the most potent germ fighter in your home. Twenty-five years ago it was called "Russian penicillin" because of its healing capability. Don't ask me why it was called that.
Garlic doesn't have any taste unless you chew it, so the trick is to mince it and take it in small amounts with water. Just swallow it and your co-workers will never know the difference!
Of course, if you love the taste of garlic, use it instead in your salad or on top of vegetables. Always use raw, fresh garlic!
Homeopathic flu remedies are available in health food stores that work very well if taken at the onset of the season -- or of the flu. Drink plenty of distilled water to flush out toxins and natural fruit juices.
Get plenty of rest. A tired body can't resist invasion of viruses or any illness for that matter. And be sure to eat a well-balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables and fewer carbohydrates.
Q: I read that you are a vegan. Was it hard for you to give up meat? Did you eat a lot of pasta instead? What about coffee and tea? I don't want to give up everything at once. I am 18 years old.
A: I think it's best that you don't give up everything at once. It may be a shock to your system and not everyone can become a vegan or even vegetarian. A great deal depends on why you want to be a vegetarian. Because other people are doing it? Because you think it's wrong to kill animals? Because you want to lose weight? Because you've read that it's healthier? All of the above? It's often a matter of mind over matter and if you're not totally dedicated to the idea of giving up meat and dairy products, it might be difficult.
It was easy for me to become a vegetarian because all my friends were and it just rubbed off when we ate in restaurants or at each other's house. At the time, I was cooking for my husband and four children, and since I love to cook big meals, doing without meat was no hardship.
Cheese was a weakness of mine and I continued to eat it for several weeks until I read that dairy products may be responsible for sinus headaches. When I stopped eating it, the headaches disappeared and I became vegan.
I rarely ate pasta because I enjoyed the variety of vegetables and lost 30 lbs when I gave up meat and dairy products. Often, when vegetarians substitute spaghetti, macaroni and noodles for meat, they are puzzled at their weight gain and don't understand the calories in carbohydrates.
I never drank tea until I decided to give up coffee and drank herb tea instead. It wasn't that easy because it takes a while to give up 15 cups of coffee a day! I discovered roasted chickory that is a wonderful substitute for coffee - and actually an ingredient in coffee.
Good luck. Please don't hesitate to write again if you have any questions.
Q: I am about to wean my 21-month old baby from breastfeeding. So far, she has rejected drinking the organic cow's milk we offer her, and doesn't even really like cheese or yogurt. My question is: how does a baby or toddler get enough calcium if she isn't drinking milk or eating dairy products?
A: There are an increasing number of children who are vegetarian - and vegan - and this question invariably arises when babies are about to be weaned. I would not be in a rush to present cow's milk, even organic milk since it may produce an allergy. When my daughter was weaned, I put her on regular cow's milk (this was back in my dark ages!) and she immediately developed allergies, which she has to this day.
In addition to milk and dairy products, she became allergic to tomatoes and broke out in hives wherever these foods touched her skin. If I knew then what I know now, I would have given her soy milk from the time she left the breast since we later learned that her grandmother had a number of allergies that may have been inherited.
Tofu is a good source of calcium, and for premenopausal women, a good source of estrogen. My granddaughter called it "Grandma's chicken" and loved it, but if we called it "tofu" she refused to eat it.
A good, nutritious diet of fresh veggies, lightly steamed, fruit, and legumes will provide the nutrients she needs. Vegans of all ages usually need extra B12 in their diets. I know several families with healthy, bright and beautiful children who are vegans, and even one with a vegan dog who is 6 years old and loves his melon!
Q: I want to lose weight and look like the models in magazines. If I stop eating meat, will I lose weight? I am 12-years old and exercise 3 hours a day. Please answer soon. Suzie
A: Hi Suzie..thanks for writing. I'll answer your questions, but I'm not sure you'll like the answers. I hope you will believe that I am telling the truth and I care about you.
Twelve years old is way, way too young to worry about losing weight unless you are grossly overweight. Too many girls want to look like movie stars and especially TV stars, who are very thin and often look sick.
You said you want to look like models in the magazines. Did you know that most of the models don't look like that in real life? There is a procedure that editors do to pictures with an airbrush where they can change and remove just about anything. One well-known model has one tooth that is longer than the other teeth and they airbrush it so it's the same length. She is just a little thick in the waist, so they airbrush her waistline to look slim She has small breasts, so they magically increase their size for the magazine. She is also bulimic and almost died from taking 40 laxatives because she wanted to lose more weight.
I am telling you this to let you know that appearances can be deceiving and it's far better to have a role model who is contributing something to make our world a better place to live and not just to be famous for her looks.
A girl your age doesn't need to exercise for 3 hours a day, or even 2 hours. Do you walk to school? Do you take gym? Play tennis or basketball? If so, you're probably getting all the exercise you need. If you really enjoy exercise, scale it down to 30-40 minutes a day and you'll probably find you have a lot more energy (and time to do fun things!)
Giving up meat will not make you lose weight; you need to start with the way you think. Girls with bulimia and anorexia almost always think they're fat, when in fact, most people think they look just right. When people purposely lose a lot of weight, they don't look healthy and people wonder if they're sick.
My suggestion is to be an average 12-year old, keep active, eat a healthy, well-rounded diet and don't even think about being fat. Most kids put on a few pounds from 12 to 15, so it helps to know that it's perfectly normal and you'll slim down by yourself. It's all part of nature and the last thing you want to do is mess around with Mother Nature!
Q: How long can I keep tofu? And how do you cook it anyway?
A: Tofu can be kept for several weeks, unopened, in the refrigerator and up to a week, opened. If it starts to smell a little sour, just simmer it for about 20 minutes and it will be fresh and ready to use.
If you freeze tofu, it changes the consistency to a spongelike texture, which is great in chili, soup and stew.
Tofu can be cut in 1/4" slices and fried in a little olive oil on medium to low heat. Add a little liquid smoke and the result is a tasty, bacon-like, healthy snack.
Most people who say they don't like tofu have eaten it directly from the container instead of cooking with it. This is a very bland product, with little or no taste of its own; instead it picks up the flavor of a marinade or the food with which it's combined. Tofu is one of the most versatile foods available and a ready source of protein. Recent research states that it can be a natural estrogen replacement.
One of the best books on tofu cookery is a book of the same name. TOFU COOKERY has an abundance of recipes that are easy to prepare, nutritious, attractive and delicious. My vegetarian cookbook, IF YOU CAN'T PRONOUNCE IT, DON'T EAT IT, has a number of tofu recipes as well.
THE VEGGIE PLACE CONTINUED --> To ASK Janet a veggie question, you can E-mail her at crcjct@ix.netcom.com
For more information, you can reference Janet Tubbs' book, If You Can't Pronounce It, Don't Eat It .
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