Cataracts and a vegan diet

Before we go into how diet affect cataract development... a friend of mine has been raising funds for A New Vision - a charity organization giving free eye surgeries for the poor and blind in indonesia to help them see again. Indonesia is the 2nd country in the world after Ethopia with the largest number of blind - and guess what? 4 out of 5 of these blind people Can Be Cured with a simple cataract surgery.

I urge you to help them recover their sight, you can click on the crowdfunding link below to take a look at their campaign and contribute... hurry though, the campaign will expire in a few days. The campaign has expired, see updates below. You can still donate to A New Vision here.

UPDATE 25oct16: For those who donated to A New Vision, thank you very much! You have helped them meet the target amount raised, this means more eyes will not have to remain blind!

Currently the campaign is still accepting donations and it will end in less than a day, if they receive a good sufficient number of unique donors during this period (repeated donations from the same individual not counted) they will stand a chance to win the Mastercard Grand Prize of US$25K for their charity. So do inform your family and friends about this good cause, the more support they can receive, the closer to getting more funds for the blind beneficaries. Thanks once again!

UPDATE 1nov16: Thank you to all who supported! A New Vision has now entered the Grand Finals to pitch their project to the judges. Check out Project Inspire's facebook post below.  

Now about sight and diet... how is the amount of meat we are eating related to cataract development later? Nutritionfacts.org have summarised a study on this pretty well... Take a look at the video.

Key points
Cutting back on meat cuts down your risk about 15%.
Just do fish, down 21%.
No fish, 30% drop in risk.
And then, no eggs and dairy for the full 40% drop in risk.

Overall, compared with meat-eaters who consumed 100 grams of meat and meat products a day, fish-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans had approximately 20%, 30%, and 40% lower risk of cataracts, respectively.

It's great that we still have our sight now, and have the blessings to learn how to lower the risk of getting cataracts through dietary intake - compared to the blind in Indonesia whom many have no access to the proper education and medical facilities. What better way is there to celebrate and be thankful for our sight by going and staying veg and make a small donation to help the blind recover their sight?

Take Action Today

I am still vegan

Hi Everyone,

It's been so long since I blog.

I am still vegan :) Don't worry, I didn't go back to eating meat. Will be hitting my 12th year as a vegan soon on 26 Nov 2016.

Life's just very busy nowadays that I can't find time to blog.

I did went through the "health dip" which some vegans went through after some years on a vegan diet. It is this health dip that cause many vegans to give up and went back to meat or animal products. But I didn't give up because I know deep in my heart a vegan diet is workable.

Many changes were made. The key is: ELIMINATE, DETOX, NOURISH - Yes my "END" method :) The END of an unhealthy diet.

I totally ELIMINATED the following foods:
Mock Meats,
Black and White pepper,
Spicy Food (curries, chilli, jalapeno peppers etc.),
Deep Fried food and food with a lot of oil used in the making/cooking.

(These foods are SO PREVALENT in Singapore and South East Asia.)

and MINIMISE the following:
Processed food high in fat, sugar, salt, addictives, preservatives etc.

If you cannot eliminate the Mock Meat due to its texture, use MINIMALLY this to substitute:
Textured Vegetable Protein that is not fried, and not flavoured - ensure you chew it really well and soak it longer when rehydrating so it is less taxing for your hardworking stomach.

I went to see a Traditional Chinese Medical Doctor to DETOX my body to purge myself of the RUBBISH I have been filling myself with all these years.

DETOX also involves ROUTINE EXERCISE (that has enough exertion!). This will purge you of more toxins from your body. Yes you need to get off that chair. I am going to implement this very soon.

After that, NOURISH your body back with WHOLESOME VEGAN NUTRITION. I am biohacking the effects of different vegan sourced nutrition on my body. Some of which are not frequently use in a vegan diet. There has been quite a number of positive effects.

Follow the END method to END your unhealthy diet and lifestyle, and you will gradually feel less and less weak, even now going into the late DETOX phase and starting to try out the NOURISH phase, my health has already stopped dipping free fall.

I believe I can crack the secret to THRIVE on a clean vegan diet soon.

The kid and the fridge

A picture speaks a thousand words... If all kids (and some adults) saw these animals in their fridge, and there were no parental pressure, you bet they will go veg. Nobody likes to see killing and dead bodies - it brings up a strange indescribable feeling in the heart...  unless they have been conditioned and be really apart from their own natural heart.

... If people tell you plants feel pain, tell them to ask themselves deeply and use their heart.

Coupon code: 15% off vegan bags

Finally found a little time to blog again!

Check out Estella design - where you can get vegan bags. Handmade from vegan fabrics, these bags are long lasting and durable.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/estelladesign

You can use the code: LIVINGVEGAN15 to get a discount of 15% off from now until 7th May.

Happy shopping!

Antioxidant workshop

Merry Christmas! Happy New-Mayan-Era! Happy new year! After missing in action for a month, it's about time to be back here. Food picture posts will be coming up soon as well as the next post in the "Ask Ketki" series... Meanwhile I had been busy last december helping out my friend at his antioxidant workshop. My friend Yeow was running "raw" health workshops for the public. These workshops teaches people how to make green smoothies, soy yoghurt, edible enzymes and stuff. I was tasked to prep the stuff and serve the participants. Check out the pictures.

Soy yoghurt with dragon fruit enzyme and bananas yummy...

Sprouted green beans with trial mix for an energy packed snack...

His raw and green energy drinks are the best... blended on the spot and drank on the spot. Taste simply full of goodness and energy.

Orange pineapple punch with red dragon fruit enzyme.
 




Mango passion fruit


Yeow has these for his meals day in and out and hardly eats cooked stuff. Most people's antioxidant levels fall into the red and orange danger zone, vegetarians in the yellow zone. His level was way past the blue zone, in fact out of range in the chart. Yeow will be running his future seminars at Kampung Senang, so do look out for his events if you want to learn how to boost your antioxidant level.

Eco vegan product agency in Singapore

This is something new and cool in Singapore! A marketing agency which focuses on vegan and environmentally friendly stuff. They are pretty well diversified in what they do - handling Public Relations, Events, Advertising, Design, Interior, Concerts for clients. I got a chance to interview one of the founders - Marie about her business.

1) Why did u start this eco vegan product PR agency?

The reason we started this agency is because Maria (my business partner) is a vegan. She influenced me to lead a cruelty-free lifestyle. We don't own any items or belongings that are derived from animals or animal, because it is the ethical way of life. She is a wise leader and she taught me to be my best. I have to thank her as our company is a niche market and we are the only one in Singapore and probably Asia.

2) Can you tell us more about your company?

Our company support clients that are cruelty free. Basically almost everything except stuff that contains animals derivatives. We are a company who cares and loves the environment. Both Maria and I are creative directors who are experienced in our field.

3) You mentioned you are the vegan chef at home, can you share a recipe?

Yes. My extremely easy, fast, quick-cook meal is called the Spicy Sumptuous Sensational mouth-watering Vegan Wrap. It's called short form SSS Mouth Watering Vegan Wrap. (When you eat this you'll tend to go "ssssss", cuz it's really spicy on your tongue)

1) First, chop cucumbers, tomatoes, red and yellow peppers into small peices.
2) Take a pan, add vegan cooking oil or olive oil.
3) Heat the pan up with low fire and stir-fry it with a little onions, garlic, grounded pepper.
4) Stir-fry the cucumbers etc. with Mushroom Sauce or Vegetarian oyster sauce or even pasta sauce for 5-8 minutes.
5) Add oregano leaves and basil leaves. And then Add Chili padi (Chopped, 3 small pieces are good enough).
6) Pour about 5 tablespoons of water to cook and stir it with the vegetables. I use alkaline water by watersource because adding Alkaline water in your food balances the pH level of your body.
7) If your broth is too watery, pour more sauce, If your broth is too thick, pour more water.
8) To enhance the flavour, get Fry's vegan Sausages at cold storage. They are extremely tasty. Chop one sausage into tiny peices and fry them till they become thick.
9) Lay the wrap (check ingredients that is vegan) on a plate. If you wanna bake it to be hard it takes 5 min to bake)
10) Pour all ingredients on top of the wrap and add a dash of sesame oil
11) Serve with a glass of Water Source Alkaline Water, I have to mention this again because this is really good. I use to wake up often and can't get back to sleep, but after drinking this, I slept throughout the night. You can get more information from their website here www.watersource.com.sg. I suggest everyone use it in their cooking especially so if you are not a vegan, because animal products and junk food increase our body's acidity.

(In the recipe above, I chopped up all my food first then stir the mixture and put the wrap below and I cooked with Veg's Fry Burger Patty but I suggest to chop the sausages as they go with it better)

4) What about tips on preparing healthy food, could you share some secrets of culinary skills? 

Secretsss.... The secret to preparing food is to omit all meats. Mix the vegtables with a lot of different ingredients that gel together logically. There is also trial and error to certain foods. A chef needs to be passionate about cooking as well. When you are cooking for the sake of cooking, your food will taste ok, if you are cooking with love, your food will taste jaw-dropping. Do look out for our cooking show very soon.

Please give Marie support by liking her facebook page here
http://www.facebook.com/ALEXANDRIAandALEXANDER

Happy International Meatless Day!

Today is international meatless day! This is a day I will never forget, because 10 years ago, I had wanted to go vegetarian today but failed. I went vegetarian the next day.

I hope if you are on your journey to be a vegetarian or vegan you will not give up. And if you are already one, you will remain so :) Stay free!

If you face any problems on your vegetarian or vegan diet, please feel free to write to me. I am not an expert, but I will try to help you within my means.

Green Tree vegan household cleaners

I am very happy to find this range of household cleaners only recently available in Singapore - which is 100% vegan! For those of you who are thinking of veganizing not only your meals but your lifestyle as well, this household range will fit nicely - they have laundry liquid, floor cleaner, hand wash, dish wash and an all purpose cleaner - made with plant and fruit enzymes and is 100% biodegradable.

Some enzymes cleaners we made ourselves give off a smell, but Green Tree doesn't, they have a light pleasant smell. So far, I have tried the dishwashing liquid, floor cleaner and the multipurpose cleaner - they are not foamy as conventional cleaners, but not inferior to them in terms of cleaniness. The oil gets off just as effectively. The multipurpose cleaner I would say is comparable to Mr Muscle brand. Gonna try the laundry liquid next.

One more important difference between these environmentally friendly cleaners vs the normal cleaners is that it doesn't dry my hands. Usually my hand felt dryer after washing the dishes with conventional dish washing liquids but I do not really feel any dryness after using Green Tree's dishwashing liquid.

Apparently, from Channel News Asia's interview, they got their fruits and vegetables for making enzymes from discarded supplies - really smart way of recycling - something we need very much in the current environment of great wastage.



Check them out, it's really good stuff

Happy Vegan Day!

Almost forgot today is vegan day! Happy vegan day!

http://technoayurveda.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/veganworld.jpg

Gangnam style? Nah... Now we have VEGAN STYLE!

A funny parody of the latest dance fashion GANGNAM STYLE VEGAN STYLE.

Jacqueline Traide's animal testing demonstration

Lush cosmetics did a live demonstration against animal testing with Jacqueline Traide as their performance artist. This was something quite well done! But it's impact would be greater if it was conducted in countries which continue to test products on animals, as far as I know, EU has already banned testing on animals for cosmetics. Still it is quite scary what kind of stuff they put onto the animals. Hopefully this awareness will slowly phase out animal testing in other countries.

Animal visuals simulation

Animal visuals offer a realistic look at "a day in a life of a chicken" or "a day in a life of a pig" by offering 3D computer simulation on how it is like to stay in the cages. It is extremely well done! Placing us in their shoes help us understand how it is like to live a life day in and out like them. It is very much worse than a prison cell since they are so cramped.

How is it like to be a hen?


How does it feel like to be a pig then?

None of us fancy this! Let's go veg to help these poor animals out.

Being disconnected to our food

The meat was made in a magical store, and no animals were harmed.

According to a recent survey in UK youths 16 - 23 years:
1) 36% do not know Bacon come from pigs
2) 40% do not link Milk to dairy cows - 7% thought it came from wheat!
3) 59% do not link Butter to dairy cows
4) 33% do not know Eggs come from hens - 11% thought it came from wheat/maize!

(Report here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/9330894/Where-do-milk-eggs-and-bacon-come-from-One-in-three-youths-dont-know.html)

It's not surprising to know these days many people do not even know where their food come from! We just buy food and shove them in our mouths without questioning what we are eating. Truth behind food is all blocked and substituted with commercials like the below feeding our brains since young, it is no wonder we do know anything.

Subtle message: cheese burgers come from flowers touched by that criminal.

Heart smart oil-free cookbook

In 2011, Dr Caldwell Esselstyn, author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, spoke in Singapore at the invitation of Vegetarian Society.

Now Vegetarian Society and Healthfriend are bringing out a vegan cookbook, based on Dr Esselstyn's guidelines: The Heart Smart Oil Free Cookbook.

The book is supported by the Singapore Heart Foundation and is now available at major book stores.

Liver and gallbladder cleanse review 1

I have been told by my relatives and my dad about the liver & gallbladder flush by Andreas Moritz.

Was quite skeptical about passing out stones - especially huge calcified ones. And more incredibly, without pain due to the apple juice softening the stones. But logically speaking, mini stones as well as sludge can move out of the system with a flush, that I believe.

Read some reviews on him being a quack, but on the other hand I heard positive reviews from many who have done the flush - including stones with a 80% cholesterol composite (bile only contains 0.3% cholesterol, and olive oil has none, so the "stone" has a high chance of being a cholesterol stone). It will be fair to give the procedure a try before judging.

I did not follow Andreas Moritz's instructions in the book 100%. But I did my best to do so, including eating meals lighter in fat throughout the 7 day program.

Six 1 litre cartons of apple juice, I use the German brand Bio Voelkel. The juice is organic and unfiltered.

Day 1 to 5
1 carton of apple juice throughout the day. Everything was more or less ok, except more frequent urges to go to the toilet.

Day 6
I finished the 1 carton apple juice by morning according to instructions. It was terrible. May be too acidic for my stomach to handle. By early afternoon, I started to get terrible pains and aches on my upper back and shoulders. Later on, it developed to slight pain and tenderness in my stomach area. Since you have to fast after lunch, I can't eat anything to help with what feels like a gastric problem that used to happen during my university days of irregular meals. I was quite scared as it was the last day and I still have to drink the lemon+orange+olive oil emulsion at night, but didn't want to give it up.

This problem went on for a few hours until I drank the Epsom salt once I reach home around 7+ pm.

I felt tired, dizzy, and tender at my stomach area, so went to sleep (not in the detox protocol).

(This is very important especially if you have gastric problems. My gastric problem was slight in the past, and dormant until this cleanse. So if you intend to do this cleanse with a gastric problem, it may be better to use an apple juice alternative mentioned in the book. Certainly not 1 litre of apple juice in the morning on day 6.)

After another dose of epsom salt at around 9pm, I down the emulsion around 11pm and prayed it won't kick up a gastric attack. The emulsion felt "spicy" in the stomach - something I dread. But I kept to the instructions of lying on the right side of the body for 20 minutes before changing positions. You can feel movements on the liver side of your tummy. I couldn't get back to sleep until after a long while of tossing and turning.

(I do not think this is will be a problem with people who do not have a gastric problem. So far my family members did not have such complains)

Day 7
After the Day 6, I awoke feeling better. Stomach is still a little sore, but not creating problems. I can feel more movements in the gall bladder. Drank the last two doses of Epsom salt solution (urgh!).

Results:
Plenty of diarrhea but no "stones" at all and I had pain in my kidney area during the flush. Was pretty disappointed. However, my colleague told me about an improvement in my skin tone, so perhaps it helped if at all. They say you may need more than 1 flush to get results. So I think I may do that, but maybe omit the apple juice on day 6, substitute the epsom salts and perhaps take a kidney support before the flush.

Helping water shortage problems on a vegan diet

Albert Einstein "Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution of a vegetarian diet."

Now scientists have agreed with him and warned that food shortages could forced the world to go veg in 2050. Please read the article from this link http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/aug/26/food-shortages-world-vegetarianism

Food production has been increasing but yet more people are going hungry.

"The food production in the world is more than enough to feed all its inhabitants properly. Yet, a billion are undernourished, around two billion are overeating, and staggering amounts of food are lost or wasted." - Extract from Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).
Water and energy are intricately linked and and conserving one helps conserves the other.

"Throughout the food chain, water and energy inputs are both crucial and interlinked. On one hand, making water of acceptable quality available for food production carries a heavy energy bill. On the other, energy production is associated with significant water consumption."
How do we cut back on water consumption to ensure we have sufficient water and food in the future? The answer: Cut back meat intake to 5% or less.

Researchers compared 3 different diet combinations:
1. Food production in line with current dietary trends(3,000 kcal/p d, 20 per cent animal food)
2. A diet in line with current trends but a reduction of meat consumption (3,000 kcal/p d, 5 per cent animal food)
3. The food intake required assuming that all losses could be avoided

The analysis showed there will not be enough water available on current croplands to produce food for the expected population in 2050 if we follow current trends and changes towards diets common in Western nations (3,000 kcal produced per capita, including 20 per cent of calories produced coming from animal proteins). There will, however, be just enough water, if the proportion of animal based foods is limited to 5 per cent of total calories and considerable regional water deficits can be met by a well organised and reliable system of food trade.
Now it longer is only our business, or the animals' business. The entire world is at stake. Please go vegan to help this problem.

Eating vegan with Hitler

Was Hitler a vegetarian or not? Who cares? This funny parody used Hitler in a great way to promote the facts of veganism. I can't disagree, natural foods with no additives (not only vegan ones) really cost more in a restaurant.

Art sculpture 29h59'59'' : humans feeding off cow's suffering

This art installation by Liu Qiang shows humans' overexploitation and reliance of other animals - in this case our desire for milk puts great strain on the cow. She is not even able to feed her own young with the milk, but instead have to feed all the humans madly scrambling after her udders. It also shows something very unnatural - why would a big bunch of humans run and scramble after an animal for her milk? Is there not other food availble to us?

 

A detailed look at "Ground up male chicks"

I have some vegetarian friends who eat eggs, and claim they are not fertilized so it is fine. I really do not understand what is it that we need from egg. Protein? Cholesterol? Or maybe B12. But B12 in egg is pretty low - about 0.6 mcg - even if you eat 3 eggs a day, it's still not sufficient to meet the daily requirement. Sometimes I think it may be the deception that the society insisted we follow otherwise we don't feel comfortable: "eat a little bit of animal products! You will be missing something from just plants alone." Well perhaps in the 1800s or earlier. Nowadays there are fortified foods and supplements for everyone, even for vegans. And yet, all the more we are worried about a deficiency compared to the past.

Anyway, I digressed. About eggs, there is something called parthenogenesis if you have not yet known... Basically, unfertilized eggs can hatch via this route. Well, maybe an embryo isn't really alive someone says, and besides many cases it don't survive to the stage where it's got the features of a chick. Alright... then you have to see the picture below.

This is what happens when we support the egg industry by our consumption of eggs. It will happen whether the eggs we eat are fertilized or not, because egg-layer hens need to be replaced when they are worn out. To introduce young hens would mean hatching eggs and selecting only those that give females. The chance to get female is almost 50% / 50% so the rest of the males are grounded and very likely placed into pet feed.

"Hundreds of thousands of baby male chicks are either ground up alive or discarded like trash to die more slowly, piled by the hundreds, even thousands, on top of one another in bins every single day in order to satiate the egg and chicken-meat industry. The majority of male chicks are basically useless to both industries, so they are considered to be “trash”. I can not tell you how hard I’ve cried watching documentary video of countless live baby chicks, freezing to death in garbage bins out in the winter cold. So, which is the more brutal scenario? Is there a more brutal scenario?" ~ Anthony Damiano on the realities caused by the consumption of chicken-based products.

Beautiful respect for animals picture

I have a backlog of food photos to put up! Not enough time at the moment. Just share something very beautiful I saw yesterday with everyone.