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When I read the headlines, I thought the reporters probably just didn’t know the meaning of vegan. But it appears that Bill Clinton really is a full on vegan! Check it out in the Boston Herald. He’s vegan for his health, but no doubt swayed in that direction by his daughter Chelsea, also vegan. Way to go, Bill!

The infamous junk food lover, who underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2004, is now a full-fledged vegan. He consumes no meat, no dairy, no eggs and almost no oil.

“I like the vegetables, the fruits, the beans, the stuff I eat now,” Clinton told CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

So what motivated Bubba to change his lifestyle? After he needed another heart operation last year, he realized exercise and cutting calories wasn’t enough to battle his family history of heart disease.

“I essentially concluded that I had played Russian roulette,” Clinton said, “because even though I had changed my diet some and cut down on the caloric total of my ingestion and cut back on much of the cholesterol in the food I was eating, I still — without any scientific basis to support what I did — was taking in a lot of extra cholesterol without knowing it. So that’s when I made a decision to really change.”

Now an advocate for cardiovascular health, Bubba’s Clinton Foundation has joined the American Heart Association to promote exercise and offer better lunches in schools.

Wingbean meal delivery

From Wingbean’s website:

Wingbean makes tasty vegan cuisine and delivers it right to your door. We know you’re busy, that’s why we do the cooking for you.

I’m busy, and I like tasty vegan cuisine, so I figured why not check it out. They even have a non-gluten option, which I ordered. The menu for this week was:

• Senorita Pasta – Delicious pasta dish with a creamy cheesy sauce, mixed with black beans and other veggies. Possibly the best meal of the week.
• Mini BBQ with Coleslaw. Surprisingly good. Much more interesting and satisfying than I thought it would be.
• Portobello Tapenade – Kind of weird. I ate it, but I’m not sure I liked it.
• Chickpea of the Sea – A chickpea “tuna” salad, similar to what Earthfare sells but a little better. Very good.
• Green Man Lasagna (with rice lasagna noodles) – Super delicious and fun. I don’t get to eat lasagna often.
• Summer Kale Saute with Shitake Bacon – LOVED the bacon. The kale was OK.
• Steamed Baby Carrots with Herbed “Cream” Sauce – Very good, but no one could be expected to eat that many carrots in a week.
• Minestrone Soup – I haven’t tried this yet, there’s just so much food.
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – Delicious, of course. They’re cookies. But they all stuck together so it was more like a bag of cookie pieces.

The service is $70+tax. For this, you easily get enough food for 10 good-sized lunches. The food quality is on par with eating left-overs from a really good restaurant. It’s certainly far better than I would make for myself.

There are a couple things I would change, if it were up to me:

1. I’d eliminate the cookies, or make the “tasty treat” something that is sugar-free. As it is, I will probably ask to leave out the cookies next time. It’s hard enough to avoid sugary desserts, without having them delivered to my doorstep.
2. It sure would be nice if the food was delivered on Sunday so that I could have it for my lunches Monday-Friday. It comes on Monday, so I don’t get to use it until Tuesday, and now I still have food going into the weekend, which isn’t quite as useful.

I probably won’t sign up to order meals every week, but I will certainly order again soon. It’s a high quality service, and a good price for what you get. Check out Wingbean here.

Lasagna (photo from Wingbean's website)

I’m a vegan who turned Republican. Here’s an article from a Republican who turned vegan. OK, well, almost vegan. He’ll get there.

Read the article: Rise Up, Vegan Republicans!

Yes, I know what you’re thinking – you’re either vegan or you’re not. But he is going vegan the same way I initially went vegetarian. I said I would eat vegetarian unless my dad was making me dinner. It’s called a transition period. So give the guy a break, and the benefit of the doubt, and read the article for the interesting points that he raises.

Here’s an excerpt:

Cultural anecdote two: “You can be a Republican who eats a vegan diet, but you can’t be a vegan and a Republican. Vegans value the sanctity of life, which is in conflict with Republican values.” So said a poster named Bart on vegsource.com. Bart was adding to his thread called “vegan ideas and info are a threat to corporations, hence a threat to the GOP, hence Bush allows spying on vegans.”

I hadn’t noticed spy cams at my local Whole Foods in Los Altos, Calif., so I will be sure to glance up next time I’m inspecting the arugula. President Bush’s successor, we know, is both pro-arugula and pro-Patriot act. Surely that conflict is cleaving President Obama’s very soul. Bart could be right; the spy cams might still be up there.

If I’d had the benefit of an article like this 5 years ago, I could have saved myself months of illness, frustration, and anxiety. The battery of tests that doctors performed on me failed to diagnose that it was my diet that was making me feel chronically fatigued and “under the weather”. Sore throat, headaches, muscle aches, and a general fatigue apparently do not fit into doctors’ narrow view of what gluten intolerance looks like.

This article, entitled “Gluten: What You Don’t Know Might Kill You” touches on a lot of different aspects of gluten intolerance, beyond just the immediate symptoms associated with it. If you have any issues with chronic illness, however slight, I highly recommend reading this article to see if gluten could be a part of it.

Remember, gluten intolerance can be a real blessing. It forces us to remove a lot of unhealthy foods from our diet, although not quite as much now that there are so many gluten-free junk food products on the market.

Mimi Kirk, 70 years old

Peta’s sexiest vegetarian woman over 50 is actually 70 years old! Mimi Kirk went vegetarian 40 years ago, was vegan for much of that time. About a year and a half ago her blood pressure was up and her doctor wanted to put her on medication. Rather than accept that fate, she turned to a raw vegan diet.

Check out a video of Mimi on a local news station here.

Check out SuperVegan’s interview here

Mimi looks amazing, even for 50. But she’s 70.

In May 2006, I chose Invisalign for my orthodontic work because I thought it would be easier to clean my teeth and gums if I could remove my braces to brush and floss. You can read my earlier post on Inivisalign for some of the drawbacks.

I’ve been wearing my Invisalign tray, which serves as an ongoing retainer, every night since I ended my treatment in April 2007. I had planned on replacing it with a traditional retainer because I felt like I was putting a disgusting petri dish in my mouth every night, destroying my teeth and gums over time. Of course I clean it thoroughly before using it each time, but still.

Turns out, my concerns were probably unfounded. I’ve finally had enough money coming in to both afford a dentist visit and also new retainer. So I went to my (completely awesome) dentist for a checkup for the first time in 3 years, expecting to need a few fillings and a root canal or two. Seriously. I also brought my Invisilign tray along to ask him about alternative retainers.

First of all, I did not have a single cavity. And keep in mind, I have had terrible problems with cavities my whole life. My mouth is a mosaic of fillings. And my gums had all 1 and 2 measurements with that little pokey thing they use to check gum health. 1 is best, and 5 is the worst.

And secondly, Dr. Young, who is an outstanding wholistic, natural hippie type of dentist, believes that Invisalign trays are fine for healthy teeth and gums. And actually said that having multiple types of metal in your mouth can cause health issues. I already have a metal retainer wire from when I had braces as a kid. A traditional retainer also has a lot of metal. So he recommended against it.

So, in the end, I’m keeping my Invisalign retainer. At least until some other better option is invented. My mind is at ease now.

You know if Oprah is doing it, then half the soccer moms in the Western world are soon to follow. Oprah Winfrey is several days into a 21-day vegan cleanse. She will eat no meat, dairy, eggs, sugar, gluten, or caffeine. Good for Oprah!

Read the full story on People

This is the same woman who went to court with Howard Lyman, the “Mad Cowboy,” over her comments that information about cows being fed to other cows “stopped me cold from ever eating another burger.” Does anyone know if she stuck with that promise?

You go, Oprah!

The first time I ever tried on a mood ring in junior high school, I was sure that it was broken. It stayed black – didn’t change color at all. But when my friend tried on the same ring, it immediately turned blue. I touched it again and it turned right back to black. My whole life I have had freezing hands and feet. I have always had to wear socks to bed so I don’t accidentally shock my partner with my ice cold feet at night. I knew it was a sign of poor circulation but I never knew what to do about it.

Last week, I was in a toy store, shopping for my nephew’s birthday when I spotted a shelf full of little mood rings. Reminiscing on my childhood, I tried one on. To my amazement, it turned a deep, dark blue! Thinking, again, that it must be broken, I tried on several rings, all with the same result. I purchased a little snail-shaped mood ring for $2 and have been wearing it all week.

I can’t prove it, but I believe this great improvement in circulation is the result of my daily visits to the Migun massage bed store. Improved circulation is one of the health benefits that the FDA allows them to advertise, because research has supported the claim. Well, I’m supporting the claim as well.

I’ve also stopped wearing socks to bed.

I often hear people say that food cravings are an indication that your body needs nutrients that are in the food you are craving. For the vast majority of people, this is a complete fallacy. Through years of junk food abuse, our bodies have become addicted to foods that make us feel terrible. This is no different from cravings for cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs. We can become addicted to meat, sugar, wheat, dairy, salt, etc.

I’m a “food-motivated” individual, so I sympathize with people suffering from uncontrollable food cravings. I haven’t completely eliminated mine, but I’m getting pretty close, so I thought I’d share a few strategies that I have used to combat them. I’ll admit up front that I have no way of knowing whether these strategies were actually effective or if it was just a coincidence.

• Probiotics: Our digestive tracts should be teaming with healthy bacteria that helps us digest food and produce nutrients. Due to overuse of antibiotics (in people and in food animals) many of us no longer have nearly enough healthy bacteria. Making things worse, a lack of healthy bacteria allows unhealthy bacteria to colonize. The theory goes that these unhealthy bacteria actually crave the sugar and processed carbohydrates so that they can continue to thrive. Get rid of the bad bacteria and replace it with good bacteria, and the cravings subside. I took these high quality probiotics every day for about 3 months. I can’t prove it was the probiotics, but unhealthy comfort foods stopped appealing to me during that time, and my diet became much cleaner with no real mental effort on my part.
• Colonic irrigation: Ew gross, I know. Believe me, I don’t really want to talk about it. But these do wonders. I was having near constant pasta cravings for months and ever since I got a colonic in January, that craving has not returned. They are supposed to be great for a whole host of other health issues too, and several of the health gurus swear by them.
• Endive: According to Victoria Boutenko’s book, Green for Life, a leafy green known as endive contains the amino acids tyrosine and phenylalanine, which help fight food cravings. I have no personal experience with this, but I thought I’d mention it.
• Time: It may be a cliche, but the passage of time really helps. When I gave up meat, I craved bacon for at least 3 years. Eventually it did pass. A couple of times I ate non-vegan foods by accident and they actually tasted quite foul because my tastes adjusted naturally along with my diet.

The easing of the food cravings hasn’t been all good though. My biggest problem these days is that I still get strong urges to indulge in “forbidden foods” but none of the old comfort foods look good to me anymore and they never taste nearly as good as I remember them. My body seems to thrive on fresh whole foods. My mind has a lot of catching up to do. This can make for some very frustrating trips to the grocery store.

There is a horrifying trend in the U.S. to put everyone on pharmaceuticals for mood disorders, rather than trying to find and correct the underlying cause. The medical industry wants us to buy into this idea that we are helpless victims of circumstance, rather than in control of our physical and mental health. They dismiss diet, exercise, and environmental factors as possible minor contributors, but even that seems to be too “inconclusive” for them.

As far as I can tell, they will slap a “disorder” label on perfectly normal people, just so they can cure them with pills. I remember a commercial from a few years ago for an anti-depressant that directed people to ask their doctor about some pill if they have felt depressed for longer than 2 weeks. Anyone who has ever been dumped, worked at a job they hated, or suffered a loss in the family has surely felt depressed for at least that long. I have, and I didn’t take any pills, but somehow I turned out just fine.

Aside from the big question of whether we really need all of these pills, there may be a bigger question of whether these pills even work at all. Leave it to the U.K. to tell us what many have suspected all along: Antidepressants don’t work. For most people, that is. This is a very interesting article that offers an alternative view to our current pharmaceutical culture.

Sadly, in their list of treatments that do work (at the bottom of the page) they make no mention of diet. I can tell you first hand, as can many others, that what we eat and drink does affect mood. Because the effect is often not immediate, many people may not see the connection.

• Alcohol: Without exception, when I drink alcohol, I will feel depressed 1-2 days later. Old, familiar, self-hating comments will repeat in my head.
• Sugar and processed carbs: After the sugar high wears off, I will barely feel like making an effort to do anything. I may also start feeling like there was no reason to get up in the morning since I’m wasting my life away anyway.
• Gluten and wheat: Similar effect to sugar and processed carbs only more severe and with the added physical symptoms of lethargy, headache, achy muscles, and sore throat to make me feel like doing anything is too much trouble.

On the flip side, many people who have adopted a raw food diet, or given up dairy or meat, have reported feeling happy and unburdened. Some have given up their medications just from changing the way they eat. I do not know why diet is so often overlooked or considered only a minor player in our mental health. As individuals, we need to take it upon ourselves to find a diet and lifestyle that works best for us. Doctors aren’t going to offer much useful guidance.