<![CDATA[ Vegan weight loss - learn everything about healthy vegan lifestyle. ]]> https://vegan-weight-loss.com https://vegan-weight-loss.com/favicon.png Vegan weight loss - learn everything about healthy vegan lifestyle. https://vegan-weight-loss.com Fri, 03 Jul 2020 19:39:06 +0200 60 <![CDATA[ Can you build muscle on a vegan diet? ]]> https://vegan-weight-loss.com/can-you-build-muscle-on-a-vegan-diet/ 5ed2556519bb17093b8d2f73 Mon, 01 Jun 2020 12:00:00 +0200 Many people still believe that only by eating animal proteins you can build muscles and keep them strong. They are worried about being harmed by this choice and often ask: „Will I lose muscles on a vegan diet”?

What, in that case, happens to all non-meat eaters, vegetarians, or vegans? Are they forced to stay poorly nourished and as thin as a rake? If you are reading this article you probably have already guessed the answer. And it claims: not at all!

You can become a vegan muscle builder by keeping a healthy and well-planned diet as well as doing your weight training. It all depends on your commitment and knowledge of what is beneficial for building muscles while eating plant-only.

Here are some tips and advice for anyone, who plans to become a vegan muscle builder or already have started this amazing journey. Let’s take a look at some basics.

Building muscle on a vegan diet is not as tricky as you were told!

No, it is easy to understand. All you have to do is follow calculations that base on your daily activity and personal requirement of calories. Before you realize whether can you build muscle on a vegan diet you need to acknowledge some information about how muscles work. First of all – how do they grow and how we lose them?

Notice, that we all have a basic minimum caloric need which is crucial to maintain our organisms in good health, weight, and muscle. It is determined by our size, weight or age, and even gender. In short, we can calculate this number by adding basic metabolism to our other activities. The result is how many calories we are utilizing each day.

To easily calculate how many calories you need check out this great calculator.

But how do we burn them? By natural and added activities, such as sleeping, walking, doing exercises. The more intense the activity the more calories you burn. If you are a muscle builder you will burn more calories than average non-sportsman. So, to keep your muscles in shape, you need to eat properly!

As Robert Cheeke – American vegan bodybuilder and author – suggests, building muscle often requires the consumption of 1.2 – 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. According to research and experience of the author of Vegan Fitness: Built Naturally, exemplary apportionment of nutrients should look like this:

  • 50% of calories from carbohydrates
  • 30% coming from proteins
  • 20% coming from fats

While the macronutrient percentage breakdown for an active person may look like this:

  • 70% of calories from carbohydrates
  • 20% coming from proteins
  • 10% coming from fats

As you can see, increasing the percentage amount of plant protein and reducing the amount of carbohydrate will be beneficial for gaining muscles.

Before we go further to the best muscle builders plant-based diet, let’s get inspired by some most famous vegan sportsmen and sportswomen.

PlantBuilt vegan bodybuilders broke a world record at the 2017 Naturally Fit Games in Austin – vegan bodybuilders brought home 32 medals of which 22 were the gold ones!

The strongest man in the world is vegan: Patrick Baboumian.

Some of the best MMA Fighters eat plants only: Mac Danzig, Jake Shields or James Wilks. Tennis players who repudiated meat: Serena Williams, Venus Williams or Novak Djokovic. Other vegan sportsman is a boxer, Timothy Bradley, Jr. They all succeeded!

Best lifestyle rules to follow for a vegan muscle builder

Follow the adjusted amount of calories

How can you build a muscle on a vegan diet without eating lots of tasty, high-protein whole food? Remember, that malnutrition leads your body to spend energy from gained proteins.

Lot of fruits and veggies. They provide your body with many high-quality nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Greens will also develop antioxidant prevention so you will stay healthy and strong.

Chickpea and leguminous plants are the most important ingredients for every vegan who desires to gain some muscles. Leguminous plants such as beans, soya, and others are a very valuable source of proteins that build muscles. Eat them also as a good source of low-fat carbs.

5-6 meals a day. Small meals full of whole plant protein are easy to digest and will provide you the equal level of energy during all day.

Variety of meals. What comes to your mind when you think about a bodybuilder diet? Lunchboxes are full of rice, chicken, and broccoli, of course. But this is not exactly the tastiest menu ever, don’t you agree? Bet on the diversity of ingredients – it may prevent malnutrition and boredom. Experiment with recipes and follow your piquant!

Drink water & sleep well. Avoid training while being underslept and dehydrated. You will be no positive results and it might be very dangerous for your health. Let yourself rest or take the day off if you feel dizzy. Working hard is the key to nice sculpture but it needs to be combined with a good frame of mind and body hygiene. Drink at least 8 glasses of water each day and sleep 7 – 8 hours every night. Your body will be grateful!

Maybe you still hesitate, asking yourself: „Will I lose muscle on a vegan diet”.
Let’s check out, how it works.

Will I lose muscle on a vegan diet?

To be clear, you can lose muscles on every diet. Eating meat does not automatically build you a sixpack on a belly and arms. And yes, you can lose muscles on a vegan diet, simply being careless with your diet. For example, eating vegan french fries with dairy-free majo for each meal will make you anything but a slim or neat fellow. Losing muscles is not about a choice of diet but the way you assort your menu. Remember that losing muscles on a vegan diet is a popular stereotype that has nothing to do with proven knowledge and research.

Now you know how to build and keep muscles on a vegan diet. Now is the time for the most important tip: be consistent and feel the joy of the way you nourish your body and mind.

<![CDATA[ What can you eat as vegan? ]]> https://vegan-weight-loss.com/what-can-you-eat-as-vegan/ 5ecfa80919bb17093b8d2e1f Thu, 28 May 2020 15:01:27 +0200 Being vegan is a philosophy of life that seeks to exclude as much as possible any form of exploitation and cruelty towards animals. Respecting them as beings that can feel.

This is reflected not only in what we eat but also in the clothes and products we use: making sure that none were made with animal skin or tested on one of them.

But isn't it hard in the current world to exclude every product of animal origin and still eat healthy and wholesome food? Definitely NO! There is plenty of food that we can choose from and in this article, we will prove that.

What should I include on my vegan shopping list to get the necessary items for the body?

Creating a shopping list for a vegan lifestyle is not complicated, you should only avoid foods that have any animal origin and you should base it on protein supplements and foods that have vitamins, iron, and calcium.

Below we will talk about the most important elements and recommend some of the products that will bring you all this and that will also be ideal for you to prepare delicious dishes.

Proteins: These are necessary for the growth and maintenance of tissues.

They are also used by the body for the formation of hormones and other physiologically active substances. Protein for a vegan diet includes :

  • Soy: Tempeh, Tofu, Shelled edamame, Soymilk.
  • Nutritional Yeast.
  • Seitan.
  • Whole Grains: Quinoa, Wild Rice, Oats, Buckwheat. Here you can find more about Whole Grains
  • Green Vegetables: Spinach, Green peas, Brussels sprouts
  • Potatoes: Russet potato, Red potato, Sweet potato
  • Legumes: Lentils, Chickpeas, Black Beans
  • Seeds: Pumpkin seeds, Hemp seeds, Tahini
  • Nuts: Almonds, Cashews, Peanut butter

Vitamins & Minerals: let's focus on these which would most likely be deficient in a plant-based diet.

Vitamin B1, B2, B6 and B12 are responsible for energy production, prevent depression, stimulate metabolism, and much more. The good thing is that all these vitamins are found in vegetables and fruits. The most problematic one is B12, but we can supplement it from nutritional yeast and some plant-based kinds of milk.

Vitamin D called also sunshine vitamin. It can be obtained from sun exposure, but you need to keep in mind to limit your time under direct light.

Iron is the primary factor of hemoglobin or pigment in red blood cells, which allows oxygen to be transported from the lungs. We can find iron in lettuce, chard, celery, tomato, lemons & oranges, legumes and wholewheat.

Omega 3 helps you with keeping your heart heathy. You can find it in chia seeds, flaxseeds, walnuts & hempseed.

What do I replace foods like milk, cheese and meat with ?

When you think about what you can eat as vegan, another thing you usually think about is how you will leave the animal foods you used to be used to consuming, we tell you that for almost all these foods there are vegetable substitutes that are delicious and help us to be supportive with animals.

As you know animal milk should not be consumed, the animals that produce it go through traumatic situations to obtain them.

The good thing is that you can still enjoy a glass of cold milk because many vegan options are delicious and are appearing on the shelves of shops, cafes, and restaurants everywhere, as Soy milk, Almond milk, Coconut milk, Rice milk, Chestnut milk, Walnut milk.

You can impersonate tase of meat by consuming vegetable meats, there are nuggets, burgers, hotdogs and much more.

The best original substitute for meat is tofu, never forget it. It is prepared with crushed soy and prepared with water, its texture is firm and cheese-like and it is also used in many recipes to give firmness and flavour.

Cheese is also a product that cannot be consumed on a vegan diet due to its main ingredient: milk. For the rescue comes homemade substitutes.

  • Potato cheese: prepared with potato, carrot, cornmeal. corn starch, vegan beer yeast, and condiments.
  • Almond cottages: bring almonds, coconut oil. maple syrup, red fruits, and vegan yeast.
  • Old sunflower seed cheese: Sunflower seeds, vegan yeast, dried herbs such as thyme and oregano, lemon juice.
  • Vegan cheddar cheese: raw cashews, dried tomatoes, yeast, chickpea flour, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, and condiments.
  • Vegetable cream cheese: hydrated cashew, fresh dill, lemon juice, and cider vinegar.

The secret of being happy with your new style of eating, is to prepare dishes that do not make you want to consume anything more from the animal, the moment you understand the positive impact that your change has on the world and in your life, you will realize that you've never needed it.

That's why we leave you some recipes to start with this vegan lifestyle.

High protein recipes: In a vegan eating style we must consume high levels of protein in each of our dishes, we give you some options so that you can prepare delicious, healthy, and varied recipes.

  • Protein shake: this is one of the best protein supplements for our body, one of them you can use using soy milk, banana, chia seeds, oats, and cocoa powder without sugar.
  • Rice noodles with tofu sauteed and pepper: to give it a touch you can use some ginger, soy sauce, granulated garlic, turmeric, lemon, olive oil, and parsley.
  • Potato omelet: you only need a potato, onion, chickpea flour, olive oil, and salt.
  • Quinoa salad, roasted squash, and pomegranate: you need pumpkins, purple onion, quinoa. pomegranate, fresh coriander, and lemon juice.

Vegan sweets: Sweets are amazing supplements to improve our diet as they include many positive elements for our body, we name you some of them:

  • Carrot cake: Prepared with carrot, silky tofu, whole wheat flour, sunflower oil. sweetener, cinnamon.
  • Tofu and chocolate mousse: Prepared with chocolate without animal products, silky tofu, and corn syrup.
  • Muffins: Prepared with soy milk, whole wheat flour, vanilla, agave syrup, corn oil.
  • Oatmeal and banana cookies: You only need a ripe banana. 1 and a half glass of oats, sweetening.

We will end this article with some tips if you're starting to switch to a vegan diet:

1. Research the benefits.
2. Start with a day or two per week.
3. Experience vegan versions of your favourite dishes.
4. Go to a nutritionist to support your change.
5. Prepare food yourself.

Veganism is not a sacrifice. It is a joy. - Gary L. Francione

<![CDATA[ Choose Your Vegan Egg Substitute ]]> https://vegan-weight-loss.com/vegan-egg-substitute/ 5ece5c73c2b20b046262bbc7 Tue, 17 Mar 2020 14:26:00 +0100 When people become vegans, they start looking for a vegan egg substitute. Common question for example is: are egg beaters vegan? Many commercial egg substitutes, like Egg Beaters, are not vegan. They contain egg whites or other animal products. To select the right egg substitute, think about what you are going to use it for.

Egg substitutes for breakfast

We have never seen a vegan egg substitute that can replace a hard boiled egg. But mashed tofu is a great substitute for scrambled eggs. Tofu is pretty bland by itself. It tastes best when mixed with sauteed onions, peppers and mushrooms.

Nutritional yeast will give your scrambled tofu a cheese-like taste. Add a little turmeric for a yellow color, and some salt and pepper. Yum!

You can even make a vegan omelet by mashing tofu with a little soy milk, flour, and seasonings. Don't use too much soy milk. It should be a thick batter, not thin like eggs. Be sure you use a good non-stick pan. To cook several omelets at a time, spread the omelet batter in discs on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake it.

For a quiche, bake your omelet mixture in a quiche pan.

Egg substitutes for moisture and binding

Eggs are often used in baked goods to bind ingredients together. Flax seeds work fine for this purpose. For one egg, mix one Tbsp ground flax seeds with 3 Tbsp water. Let it sit for 5 minutes. It turns into a viscous gel like egg whites. Would the ground flax seeds look odd in your finished product? Strain them out of the gel with cheesecloth before you use it.

We use the ground flax and water combination to hold veggie burgers together too.

Eggs also add moisture to cookies, muffins, and cakes. But who wants all that fat and cholesterol just to make a cake moist? There are many vegan egg substitutes that can add moisture to baked goods:

Blend a small chunk of tofu or a few raw nuts with the liquid in your recipe.

Use baby food prunes, applesauce, mashed banana, or other fruit purees instead of eggs. Fruit purees also substitute for oil and margarine in fat free baked goods. Be sure to cover your fat free baked goods tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate them.

Egg substitutes for leavening cakes

People also add eggs to cakes for leavening: to make the cakes rise. This is the biggest challenge for a vegan egg substitute, especially when you bake with heavy whole grain flours. If you are trying to use a vegan egg replacer to modify a favorite family recipe, be aware that your results may be.....different.

That said, the best product that we have found for leavening is Ener-G Egg Replacer. It is a dry powder that you mix with water. The ratio of Egg Replacer to water is:

  • 1 egg = 1 1/2 tsp dry Egg Replacer plus 2 tbsp water
  • 1 egg white = 1 1/2 tsp dry Egg Replacer plus 2 tbsp water
  • 1 egg yolk = 1 1/2 tsp dry Egg Replacer plus 1 tbsp water

The ingredients in Egg Replacer are: potato Starch, tapioca starch flour, leavening (calcium lactate [not derived from dairy], calcium carbonate, citric acid), sodium carboxymethylcellulose, and methylcellulose.

The manufacturer says that Egg Replacer is gluten-free, wheat-free, casein-free, dairy-free, yeast-free, soy-free, tree nut-free, peanut-free, and low in protein. Egg Replacer is only for baking. Do not try to use it as a scrambled egg substitute.


There are plenty of egg replacers for vegan diet followers. Pick yours, try it and be a happy vegan :)

<![CDATA[ Best protein sources for vegans ]]> https://vegan-weight-loss.com/best-protein-sources-for-vegans/ 5ece5b26c2b20b046262bba5 Sat, 29 Feb 2020 14:25:00 +0100 Are any vegan protein sources listed on the current food pyramid? Yes. The pyramid includes legumes, nuts, and seeds as protein sources. Many weight loss diets say to eat vegetables, fruit, and lean protein. When they say "lean protein", what they mean is to eat lean animal flesh. Vegans don't eat animal flesh and we don't need it to get enough protein.

So how do we get enough protein on a vegan diet?

How much protein do we need?

Before we answer that question, let's first look at some interesting facts.

  • A human infant grows faster in the first six months of life than at any other time.
  • Infants need more protein per pound of body weight than adults to fuel their growth.
  • The ideal food for human infants is human breast milk.
  • Human breast milk is 5.9% protein.

The logical conclusion we can draw from this is that human adults need less than 5.9% of their calories from protein. Does any official group agree with this?

The U.S. government says we should eat 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight. To use pounds instead of kilograms, multiply your weight in pounds by 0.363. A person who weighs 154 pounds needs 154 x .363 = 56 grams of protein per day.

One gram of protein contains 4 calories. So 56 grams of protein is 224 calories of protein. To make the math easy, a moderately active 154 pound person might burn around 2240 calories per day. So 224 calories out of 2240 calories is approximately 10% of calories as protein.

That is double the amount that is actually needed. It should cover the needs of active children, teenagers, pregnant women, nursing women, and everyone else!

Which whole plant foods meet this vegan protein goal?

% of protein in Vegetables

Vegetable % protein Vegetable % protein
zucchini 30.2 tomato 19.4
romaine lettuce 28.8 celery 17.2
broccoli 33.0 green pepper 17.2
cauliflower 31.6 onion 11.0
kale 26.4 potato 10.4
iceberg lettuce 25.6 carrot 9.0
green beans 23.4 sweet potato 7.2

Vegetables average about 25% of calories from protein.

% of protein in Legumes

Legume % protein Legume % protein
regular tofu 42.5 white beans 28.0
whole soybeans 38.5 kidney beans 27.2
tempeh 37.0 black beans 26.8
edamame 35.6 green peas 26.6
lentils 31.0 pinto beans 25.2
split peas 28.2 garbanzo beans 21.6

Legumes also average well over 25% protein.

% of protein in Whole Grains

Grain % protein Grain % protein
rye 17.6 quinoa 14.6
oats 17.2 barley 14.0
spelt 17.2 millet 11.6
wheat 15.4 corn 10.2
amaranth 15.0 brown rice 9.2

Whole grains, with around 15% calories from protein, are another vegan protein source.

% of protein in Fruits

Fruit % protein Fruit % protein
peaches 9.2 blueberries 5.0
raspberries 9.2 bananas 4.8
strawberries 8.2 grapes 4.1
oranges 8.0 pears 2.6
plums 6.0 apples 2.0

Even fruits contains protein!

% of protein in Nuts & Seeds

Nut/seed % protein Nut/seed % protein
peanuts 18.2 cashew nuts 13.0
pumpkin seeds 18.0 sesame tahini 11.6
pistachio nuts 14.8 hazelnuts 9.4
almonds 14.6 walnuts 9.2
sunflower seeds 14.2 pecans 5.2
flax seeds 13.6 macadamia nuts 3.9

Many people eat nuts and seeds thinking they are great vegan protein sources. Most nuts and seeds reach the 10% protein level but they are not as high as vegetables and legumes. And they are all high in fat. They are a bigger source of fat than of protein!

Are there any plant foods that don't contain protein?

Most people are amazed to learn that plants contain protein. Every whole plant food contains protein....even lettuce and bananas! The only foods from plants that do not contain protein are oils and refined sweeteners. And they are not whole foods. For example, corn has protein but corn oil does not. A sugar beet contains protein but refined sugar does not.

SuperBurgersIf you are craving a burger, read labels carefully. Do not buy any meat substitute that contains oil or isolated soy protein. Other animal products to avoid are cheese, whey, casein, and egg whites.

Our favorite burgers are called SuperBurgers. They are made of tempeh, which is a whole soybean product. They are a little high in sodium so don't eat them every day.

The meat industry spends millions of dollars on advertising. They want us to believe that animal flesh and dairy products are the only foods that contain protein. Animal products do contain protein. They also contain saturated fat, cholesterol, antibiotics, growth hormones, e coli, and absolutely no fiber. It is much better to get your protein from plants!

Relax and enjoy your vegan meals. Don't worry about your protein intake. It is easy to get enough protein on a vegan diet. Every whole plant food is a vegan protein source!

]]> <![CDATA[ How Many Calories in Whole Grains? ]]> https://vegan-weight-loss.com/calories-in-whole-grains/ 5ece5a2dc2b20b046262bb92 Fri, 31 Jan 2020 14:17:00 +0100 In the chart below, we compare the calories in whole grains, white rice, and several different kinds of pasta. All of the grains and pastas are cooked the same way: in plain water.

Do you want your grains to be as low in calories as possible? Then two things are important:

  1. They must be cooked in water or another no-calorie liquid until they are tender: no added fats or concentrated sweeteners. So, forget about cooking your oatmeal in fruit juice or soy milk. :-) It's fine to cook your grains with herbs, spices, garlic, onions, vegetables, beans, or whole fruit.
  2. Ideally, the grains should be intact, in their original shape. This means they still contain the bran and germ, and they have not been ground into flour.

The grains on the plate below are examples of intact whole grains. They look like tiny spheres or logs. They are high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

List of grains and their calorie counts

In the chart below, the calorie density numbers are for grains or pasta cooked in water.

A few are frozen or canned, like the corn and hominy.

Sprouted grains (not listed here) would have a lower calorie density because they contain less starch and more water.

There are several whole grains for which we could not find calorie per ounce data (cooked): wheat berries, rye berries, oat groats, and hulled barly. We would expect these grains to have a calorie density similar to that of brown rice. Pearled barley is a partially refined grain. It would have a higher calorie density than hulled barley.

Grain Calories per Ounce Grain Calories per Ounce
oat bran 11 Japanese somen noodles 37
hominey, yellow or white 20 millet 34
rolled oats, regular or instant 20 quinoa 34
corn, yellow or white 23 barley, pearled 35
bulgur wheat 24 pasta, whole wheat 35
buckwheat groats 26 pasta, corn 36
Japanese soba (buckwheat) noodles 28 spelt 36
amaranth 29 Japanese somen noodles 37
teff 29 pasta, spinach 37
wild rice 29 white rice: short, medium, or long grain 37
brown rice, long grain 31 pasta, enriched egg noodles 39
Asian rice noodles 31 kamut 41
brown rice, medium grain 32 pasta, enriched semolina 45
couscous (a tiny pasta) 32

Many people think pasta is fattening, but what does the above chart slow us? That whole grain pasta has a very similar calorie density to intact whole grains.

Whole Grain Pasta Is Not Fattening!

If you look at the label on a box of Westbrae Whole Wheat Lasagna noodles, you will see that 2 oz of noodles contain 210 calories. That means that the dry noodles have a calorie density of 105 calories per oz.

You might be thinking that 105 calories per oz is a high calorie density. It is, but remember, we don't eat dry noodles. When you read the label on a packaged food, you often can't tell the true calorie density of the food until you cook it.

As we cook noodles, they absorb a lot of water. One oz of dry noodles will weigh more than 2 1/2 oz when it is cooked. Cooked whole wheat pasta contains about 35 calories per oz, about the same as beans. Enjoy your whole grain pasta without guilt.

However, there is a significant calorie difference between whole grain pasta and refined pasta.

Enriched Semolina

Semolina pasta is not great for weight loss. First of all, it contains 45 calories per ounce. Secondly, food companies remove most of the fiber and important nutrients from the whole wheat when they make the stuff.

With little fiber, white pasta is not filling, so we get hungry soon after we eat it. With nutrients missing, our body tells our brain it needs more fuel; we eat more, searching for the missing nutrients.

Why is it called "enriched" pasta? After they remove the bran and germ, food companies add back a few of the cheapest vitamins and call it enriched. What a joke. :-(

Once in a while when you are stuck in a restaurant with no decent whole plant foods on the menu, semolina pasta might be OK. Top it with steamed vegetables and some marinara sauce.

But first check with the wait person to make sure the pasta does not contain eggs. Many restaurants, especially high end places, use only egg pasta. And check if the marinara sauce contains beef stock, parmesan, or other animal products. It's a minefield out there!

Whole Grain Baked Goods

As you can see from the chart above, whole grain pasta has a slightly higher calorie density than intact whole grains. This is because it absorbs water during cooking, just like grains do. Baked goods are a different story.

When we bake flour into bread or bagels, the water evaporates in the oven, and the calorie density goes way up. You will see that bread, burger buns, and tortillas have a high calorie density: about 65 - 75 calories per oz. All breads and flatbreads are in this range, even the healthy ones. Some contain extra calories from oil, margarine, and sugar.

For a food to have a low calorie density, it needs to be:

  • high in fiber
  • low in fat
  • high in water content

If you are hoping you can just drink a big glass of water with your bread, we're sorry. It just doesn't work that way. :-)

Some people, especially men, can eat several pieces of whole grain bread a day and still lose weight. Others, usually women, find they can only eat bread once in a while. If you gain weight the minute you look at a piece of bread, you are not alone. Learn to enjoy your potatoes, sweet potatoes, whole grain pasta, and intact whole grain recipes. Save the bread and other flour products for special occasions.

Nutrient content of grains

Whole grains are high in vitamin E and most of the B vitamins. They have been a staple food for our species since our ancient ancestors first started growing plants. However, vegetables, fruit, beans, nuts, and seeds contain even more nutrients per calorie than do grains. For optimal nutrition, some health-conscious vegans limit the quantity of grains in their diets.

It's good to include some whole grains in your diet for their vitamin B content. If you choose to limit or omit grains, be sure to get some starches from beans and root vegetables, so your hunger is satisfied.

Most grains, except for millet, are slightly acid-forming in the body. This is not a problem unless you eat other high-acid foods (like animal products) and very few vegetables.

<![CDATA[ The Calories in One Pound ]]> https://vegan-weight-loss.com/the-calories-in-one-pound/ 5ece5820c2b20b046262bb5c Wed, 01 Jan 2020 14:13:00 +0100 The calories in one pound of excess body weight: 3500. That is more calories than most of us eat in an entire day. But it all comes from the excess calories we eat. Especially the extra fat.

To gain a pound of fat

Our body loves to store fat. Fat is security for the famine that might be coming tomorrow. It is easy to store a pound of fat. The storage procedure is fast and burns only a few calories. Our body stores the fat we eat in the form it enters our body. Scientists can remove a bit of fat from our hips with a hollow needle and tell us what kind of oils or fatty foods we normally eat.


Fat source Calories in a pound Calories in an ounce
Butter 3252 203
Margarine 3252 203
Coconut oil 3910 244
Almond oil 4010 251
Avocado oil 4010 251
Canola oil 4010 251
Corn oil 4010 251
Flaxseed oil 4010 251
Grapeseed oil 4010 251
Hazelnut oil 4010 251
Olive oil 4010 251
Peanut oil 4010 251
Sunflower seed oil 4010 251



To lose a pound



<![CDATA[ Is it possible to be addicted to food? ]]> https://vegan-weight-loss.com/is-it-possible-to-be-addicted-to-food/ 5ece570cc2b20b046262bb45 Fri, 20 Sep 2019 14:03:00 +0200 Some people swear they are addicted to food. They say that certain foods have a powerful hold on them, just like alcohol or drugs. Does this sound crazy? Recent scientific studies show that it can, in a way, be true.

Drugged by dopamine

When we eat an especially tasty food, our brain releases dopamine.

Dopamine is the main pleasure-producing chemical in the brain.

The dopamine locks on to receptors on our brain cells and creates a permanent memory trace.

The memory trace helps us remember the look, smell, and taste of that food.

Dopamine makes us want to eat that food again.

There is a type of brain scan called positron emission tomography that can actually measure the number of dopamine receptors - DRD2 (dopamine receptor D2) in our brain. Recent studies show that some people are born with fewer receptors than normal. They have a low D2 gene.

Addiction genes

People born with a low D2 gene are more likely to become addicted to food, alcohol, nicotine, drugs, and/or gambling. They don't get enough dopamine stimulation, so they never experience enough pleasure. They use more of their chosen substance, trying to feel pleasure. Between their doses of addictive drug or food, they feel anxious and depressed.

We are all born with some genetic weaknesses. The important thing to realize is that our lifestyle habits determine whether our harmful genes will ever be expressed. People with a genetic predisposition for heart disease or diabetes will not develop those diseases if they follow a whole food plant-based diet and a healthy lifestyle.

The same is true of addictions. You have probably met non-drinkers who had alcoholic parents. They chose to eliminate their genetic risk by never taking a drink. They chose not to be alcoholics.

Food addiction in normal people

Even people who are born with the normal amount of dopamine receptors can become addicted to food or drugs. Recent studies show that as people become obese, their number of dopamine D2 receptors decreases.

If you want to cause a food addiction, scientists say that the best way to do it is by intermittent gorging, also called binge eating. And the best way to cause binge eating is by:

  • Trying to follow a diet that is too low in calories, and
  • Eating low nutrient foods

If you restrict calories and lack essential nutrients, your body eventually rebels and forces you to gorge on high calorie foods. Do you see the connection?

  • Dieting and eating low nutrient foods causes hunger
  • Hunger causes binge eating
  • Binge eating causes food addiction
  • Therefore, dieting and low nutrient foods cause food addiction

People who are addicted to drugs or alcohol have a physical dependency on these substances. When they try to stop using, they experience painful withdrawal symptoms. After they recover, it is important that they never use the substance again, or the physical addiction will return.

People who are addicted to food have a different situation. People need food to stay alive. If you try to withdraw from all food and never eat again, you will starve to death. What is a food addict to do? The good news is that, just as with drugs, not all foods are addictive.

Which foods are addictive?

Think about the foods you can't resist. Are they whole plant foods? Probably not. Nobody ever got in the car and drove to the 7-Eleven or a fast food restaurant at 11 pm to buy a head of cauliflower or a can of black beans, did they?

Neal Barnard, MD, author of Breaking the Food Seduction, names four common foods or food groups that are addictive:

  • Chocolate
  • Cheese
  • Sugar
  • Meat

Do any of those ring a bell for you?

The truth about chocolate

Many people understand that chocolate is addictive. In fact, chocolate stimulates the same part of the brain as morphine does. Some of the active compounds in chocolate are:

  • Caffeine, a stimulant
  • Theobromine, a stimulant
  • Phenylethalamine, an amphetamine-like compound

In one case, scientists studied obese people who craved chocolate. They gave the subjects naloxone, which is an opiate blocker used on drug addicts. The subjects lost all interest in chocolate. Don't get too excited about this. Opiate blockers can damage your liver if used for very long, so they are not a healthy solution for people who are addicted to food.

Cravings for cheese

Many people say they could never be vegans because they can't give up cheese. Why is cheese so addictive? Dr. Barnard explains that a major source of addictive compounds in cow's milk is casein. Casein is a protein made from a long chain of amino acids. About 87% of the protein in cow's milk is casein.

When we digest milk or other dairy products, not all of the casein is broken down into individual amino acids. Some of it breaks down to short chain proteins, each containing several amino acids. These short chain proteins are called casomorphins, and they are addictive compounds. Nature designed it so calves would be addicted to food: to their mother's milk.

Cheese is basically concentrated cow's milk. When we eat cheese, we get a big hit of these addictive opiates. Have you ever eaten a large amount of cheese and been constipated afterward? The constipation was caused by the narcotic effect of the casomorphins. We are not calves, and we should not be drinking cow's milk or eating cheese.

Major addictive ingredients

Dr. David Kessler, author of The End of Overeating names three ingredients that trigger addictive eating:

  • Sugar
  • Fat
  • Salt

Processed foods that contain this combination give us lots of pleasure and dopamine release, but no nutrition. It is easy to develop a fast food addiction or an addiction to junk food. Processed foods actually cause the addiction.

Even a whole food vegan must beware of the sugar-fat-salt combination in meals. Restaurants, even most vegan restaurants, use this combo to enhance the flavor of food. These ingredients stimulate our tastebuds and increase dopamine production. We eat, feel pleasure, and then we eat even more.

Learn to season your foods with ingredients that are healthy and less addictive. Good alternative flavorings are:

  • Herbs and spices
  • Citrus juices and zest
  • Assorted vinegars
  • Chilies and hot sauces

If you believe you are addicted to food, you are not a weak person who is lacking will power. You might naturally have low D2 receptors. Or you might have made some mistakes in the past, like dieting and eating low nutrient foods. It is never too late to change.

The way to overcome food addictions is to withdraw "cold tofu" from all addictive foods. Get animal foods and processed foods out of your house. Follow our vegan weight loss plan carefully. Be sure to eat plenty of dark leafy greens, both cooked and raw. Eat until you are satisfied. Do not try to count calories.

The good news is that eliminating addictive foods will not cause severe physical withdrawal symptoms. When you start eating satisfying amounts of whole plant foods, you will feel better immediately. These are the foods our bodies are designed to run on.

<![CDATA[ Daiya Cheese ]]> https://vegan-weight-loss.com/daiya-cheese/ 5ece5513c2b20b046262bb2d Thu, 15 Aug 2019 13:54:00 +0200 Like many vegans, we love the taste and texture of Daiya cheese. One of the most delicious restaurant meals we've ever had was a pizza covered with this stuff. But sadly, foods that taste good are not always good for us. Let's take a cold hard look at the nutrition facts and ingredients, then decide whether to include this dairy free cheese in our diet.

Why people love it

Of all the nondairy cheeses, this is the one that truly melts.

It is smooth and drippy, just like real cheese.

It contains no soy, which makes many people happy.

It comes in three flavors: cheddar, mozzarella, and pepperjack.

This is a package of the mozzarella style. It tastes so authentic that Tofurky uses it on their pizzas. Many pizza restaurants use it too.

To help you understand the discussion below, here is a helpful lesson on reading nutrition labels.

First we look at the Nutrition Facts label:

  • A serving contains 90 calories and 60 of them come from fat. That means that 67% of the calories come from fat. This is definitely a high fat food.
  • Two grams of fat out of six (33%) are saturated fat! Every soy cheese we analyzed contained 0.5 grams or less per serving.
  • A 90-calorie serving contains 280 mg of sodium. That is pretty high, since the ideal amount would be 90 mg or less.
  • A serving is 28 grams, which equals one ounce. The calorie density is 90 calories per ounce, which is very high. To lose weight, we need to focus our diet on foods that are 35 calories per ounce or less.
  • A serving contains 1 gram of fiber, which is better than nothing but certainly not good. Of course real cheese, being an animal product, contains none.

So far, Daiya doesn't look too great for health or for weight loss. What about the ingredients?

  • This cheese contains 3 types of oil, and the coconut oil is the one that adds all that saturated fat.
  • Pea protein is just another highly processed isolated protein substance, similar to soy protein.

The Verdict on Daiya

Let's be clear. We are not picking on Daiya. All nondairy cheeses are highly processed foods. They are made of a combination of oil, isolated plant proteins, chemicals, and lots of salt. Cheese is fatty and salty and has no fiber, so companies make vegan cheeses that are fatty, salty, and low in fiber. If they weren't fatty and salty, they wouldn't taste like cheese!

So why do we feel the need to find a vegan food that tastes like cheese? We just might be addicted to cheese. Check out this information about how we get addicted to food, especially cheese and chocolate.

New brands of non-dairy cheese appear from time to time. We recently saw one made mainly of nuts. It was not highly processed, but still very high in fat. Read labels carefully and make the best decision for your weight loss program and your health. Save the Daiya for special occasions and try to reeducate your taste buds.

Enjoy the taste of simple whole plant foods. Or make your own mock cheeses from The Uncheese Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak. The author is a creative cook and we have tried many of her recipes. Maybe some day food companies will produce a healthy "cheese" made of onions, carrots, potatoes, and tofu.....

<![CDATA[ Soy Cheese Brands - which to choose? ]]> https://vegan-weight-loss.com/soy-cheese-brands/ 5ece530ec2b20b046262bb0c Wed, 03 Jul 2019 13:52:00 +0200 Why do people buy soy cheese? Some want a food that will help them lose weight or reduce their cholesterol levels. Some people have allergies to dairy products. And of course, vegans don't want to use any animal products for many reasons.

Let's look closely at the labels on a few different cheese substitutes. Which ones contain dairy? Which are best for over all health? which are good for weight loss? Here is a short course in reading nutrition labels.

Soya Kaas

From the front of the package, this soy cheese sounds good. It contains no lactose, cholesterol, or hydrogenated oil,It is low in saturated fat. Ignore these advertisements and read the nutrition label on the back.

  • This soy cheese contains 25 fat calories in a 40-calorie serving. That is 25/40 or 62% fat: definitely not good for weight loss.
  • Check the sodium content. The 40-calorie serving contains 185 mg of sodium. That is way too high. It should be 40 mg or less.
  • What about the the calorie density? It is 40/19 or 2.1 calories per gram. That is the same as 60 calories per ounce. The calorie density is too high for our weight loss program.
  • The fine print at the bottom of the label says it is not a significant source of dietary fiber. So there is less than 1/2 gram of fiber.

Even though we have basically rejected this as a weight loss food, let's review the list of ingredients:

  • The second ingredient is caseinate, a milk protein. In fact, 87% of the protein in milk is casein. This cheese is definitely not vegan. Casein is the main protein in cows' milk. It accounts for 87% of milk protein. Many companies put casein in soy cheese to make the cheese melt. Casein is not healthful. In the landmark nutrition book The China Study, T. Colin Campbell describes his research linking casein with liver cancer. Casein also raises cholesterol levels.
  • This product also contains soy oil. Like all other oils, soy oil is a processed food with an extremely high calorie density.
  • Natural flavors are always suspicious. Soy lecithin is basically another type of added fat. The other ingredients may be harmless, but we have enough reasons to look for a better product.

Galaxy Vegan Cheddar

This cheese says "vegan" in big letters, so there shouldn't be any casein in it.

  • There are 20 fat calories in a 45-calorie serving. That means 20/45 or 44% fat. It is not a good product for weight loss.
  • There are 160 mg sodium in a 45-calorie serving. That is too much sodium. We want to see 45 mg or less.
  • The calorie density is 45/1, or 45 calories per ounce. That is more than our weight loss goal of 35 but not that bad for "cheese."
  • A serving contains no fiber.

What about the ingredients?

  • Isolated soy protein, also known as soy protein isolate, is a highly processed food. You will find it in many vegetarian mock cheeses and mock meats. We avoid it.
  • The product also contains soybean oil, carrageenan, and several chemicals. There are no whole plant foods in this product at all.

Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet

Many vegans like Vegan Gourmet soy cheese. It tastes good and it melts, sort of. Maybe we can use it for our weight loss program.

  • It contains 60 fat calories out of 70 calories. That means it is 85% fat. Wow. Pretty fattening.
  • There are 110 mg of sodium in 70 calories. We hoped to see no more than 70 mg.
  • The calorie density is 70/1, or 70 calories per ounce. If you eat much of this soy cheese it will surely help you gain weight.
  • The good news is, a serving contains 2 grams of fiber.

Are the ingredients good?

  • We aren't surprised to see that the first ingredient after water is soy oil.
  • Tofu is fine.
  • Soy protein is just shorthand for isolated soy protein.
  • This cheese also contains carrageenan and "natural flavors". Oh well, it was too high in fat anyway.

But what About Daiya?

When Daiya appeared on the market, many vegans went crazy. They were so happy to find a dairy free cheese that melted and tasted like the real thing. For people who couldn't eat soy, it was even soy-free. Here we take a close look at Daiya. Is it healthy and is it OK for our vegan weight loss plan?