Are you there, Soy? It's me, Vegan

The Low FODMAP Vegan – Part 2

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:00:38 +0000

Firstly, I apologise for the lack of creativity I am currently experiencing..hence the generic title for this post. I am starting to get a little frustrated.

When I started this Low FODMAP diet last week it was Chinese New Year here, and the couch potato that I was during my 5 day weekend – I did no grocery shopping. I stuck to the vegetables at hand – to be fair the markets were closed and the supermarkets jacked up their prices – why? Because they could.

So when I finally got around to doing some grocery shopping the other day in the supermarket – mainly looking for snacky foods and some pre-packaged no fuss foodness I just got frustrated. Reading ingredients and realising that almost everything that I picked up, I couldn’t have – something had dairy in it, something else had garlic in it – it was ridiculous. Even without the frustrations of being on this Low FODMAP diet – being Vegan in this country is more than frustrating – even the soy cheese has caesin in it! Outrageous!

Anyway, I did manage to pick up a few things – some gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, nut free cereal bars, some rice bread (at an extortionate price – but I might make my own from now on), soy milk and some soy yogurt.

So back to this list that you must memorise..we started with Fruits yesterday – now what about everything else? I thought it might be simpler to show you a chart I found – apologies – I can’t remember where exactly I found it – so please don’t assume I am taking credit for putting this together – I’ve just found it incredibly helpful and I’ve stuck it to the front of my fridge to help me…my advice is you do the same.

Do remember that some of the items on the allowed list may not suit you – it’s still really trial and error, and some on the not allowed list you may be ok with in moderation. It’s up to you – if you want some more direction on what you should eat and when I suggest you contact and work through a program with a nutritionist / dietician.

That’s all..for now.

Rxx

The Low FODMAP Vegan

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:05:05 +0000

Those of you who have read my previous post will know I have embarked on this new (well, new for me) diet plan – The Low FODMAP diet and as you are reading this, I am on day 7. One thing I must emphasize is that it is not a requirement while you are on the Low FODMAP diet to be vegan, in fact, I’m pretty sure it’s not advised. But I am. Simple. Whether you’re supposed to or not, I am.

It’s a huge struggle let me tell you. Especially with something there is only limited information about online – limited in comparison to how much information is available on every single other diet plan that exists in the world. Limited in comparison to if you were doing this diet plan as a non-vegan. We are all learning, and we are all learning together.

The hardest thing about this, is knowing where to start. It’s day 7 and I’m still struggling with what to eat – what to cook, and what to bake on a regular basis. It is important to ~~know~~ memorise the foods you can and cannot eat – those which contain FODMAPs and those which don’t. So let me see if I can help you (and myself) here a little.

Let’s start with fruits:

Cassandra Forsythe – a nutritionist based in Conneticut has a pretty comprehensive list of those fruits (both natrual and dried) which are not suitable and suitable on a low FODMAP diet:

FRUITS TO AVOID:

Excess Fructose fruit:
Apple
Mango
Nashi fruit (Chinese Pear)
Pear
Persimmon
Rambutan
Watermelon

Excess Fructan fruit:
Persimmon
Rambutan
Watermelon

Excess Polyol fruit:
Apple
Apricot
Avocado
Blackberries
Cherries
Longon
Lychee
Nashi Fruit (Chinese Pear)
Nectarine
Peach
Pear
Plum
Prune
Watermelon

SUITABLE FRUITS:
Banana
Blueberries – buy organic
Boysenberry – buy organic
Cantaloupe
Star fruit
Cranberry – buy organic
Durian
Grapes – buy organic
Grapefruit
Honeydew melon
Kiwi
Lemon
Lime
Mandarin
Orange
Passion fruit
Papaya
Pineapple
Raspberry – buy organic
Rhubarb
Strawberry – buy organic
Tangelo

Suitable dried fruits (some people are ok with dried fruits, others are not):
Banana chips
Cranberries (often are coated in sugar – only eat if not sweetened)
Currants
Papaya
Pineapple (often are coated in sugar – only eat if not sweetened)
Sultanas
Raisins (may not be suitable for everyone…)

Special notes on fruit:
Limit intake of suitable fruits to one serve per meal.
e.g. One whole banana or orange.
Third to half a glass of suitable juice.
Small handful of berries or grapes.
Small amount of suitable dried fruit (e.g. 10 sultanas).

I have read on other websites that the largest amount of fresh fruit you should have in one sitting should be about the size of a small orange and should you wish to eat more, leave a 2 hour gap between the servings. This supposedly gives your body time to digest. I haven’t had more than a banana a day as yet – and I feel fine for now. I’ll keep you posted.

Rxx

Enter the Dragon

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:46:59 +0000

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Enter the year of the Dragon – with promises of prosperity, good health and luck!

I have recently embarked (by recently I mean i’m on Day 6) of a new diet plan. Years ago, I was diagnosed with IBS (for those of you who don’t know, IBS is Irritable Bowel Syndrome – sounds pleasant doesn’t it?

Wikipedia (trusty source that it is) defines IBS as: a symptom-based diagnosis characterized by chronic abdominal pain, discomfort, bloating, and alteration of bowel habits. As a functional bowel disorder, IBS has no known organic cause. Diarrhea or constipation may predominate,

Sounds fun doesn’t it? I have tried countless medications to assist in digestion, I have taken so many peppermint oil tablets to aid digestion and have drunk so much peppermint tea that I can’t even keep track anymore. But if you’re lucky enough, like me, you have a friend who is a dietician and who really looks out for your well being. Genuinely.

It goes to show how much doctors really tell you – or maybe they just don’t know enough themselves resulting in a lot of being told “you have IBS, i’m sorry, you just have to deal with it” by doctors, and a lot of “I don’t know what’s wrong with you so it must be IBS” and resulting in you having to take matters into your own hands. For awhile, I did exactly that – just deal. But as I grew up, and learned more about what I could and could not handle, I started eliminating the basics that I knew affected me – Chilli and Dairy. Slowly, I reintroduced them back into my diet, and then just dealt. I was so frustrated.

My amazing friend recommended something called the Low FODMAP diet to me. So when I heard about this I had to find out more – I asked questions and did some research on my own and now I am patiently waiting for a book to arrive in the post.

I had no idea previously, that one of the main causes of IBS is fructose malabsorption, where by absorption of fructose is impaired by deficient fructose carriers in the small intestine’s enterocytes. This results in an increased concentration of fructose in the entire intestine.

Dr. Sue Shepherd developed the low FODMAP diet in 2001. She has proven, through her research, that limiting dietary FODMAPs is an effective treatment for people with symptoms of IBS. On her website she says, FODMAPs are found in the foods we eat. FODMAPs is an acronym (abbreviation) referring toFermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols*. These are complex names for a collection of molecules found in food, that can be poorly absorbed by some people. When the molecules are poorly absorbed in the small intestine of the digestive tract, these molecules then continue along their journey along the digestive tract, arriving at the large intestine, where they act as a food source to the bacteria that live there normally. The bacteria then digest/ferment these FODMAPs and can cause symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome include abdominal bloating and distension, excess wind (flatulence), abdominal pain, nausea, changes in bowel habits (diarrhoea, constipation, or a combination of both), and other gastro-intestinal symptoms.

I have thus commenced my journey of this new eating plan, and I will (hopefully) post more regularly – giving you background, and insight, in hopes that it might help at least one of you as well.

Rxx

It’s all about the comfort..

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:52:19 +0000

So much about food is how it makes you feel. The warm fuzzy feeling from eating mum’s home made lasagne, or curling up on the sofa with the most satisfying soup and crusty bread, or eating a really spicy curry that makes you sweat. The rush that you get from the moment you put that first morsel in your mouth to the moment at which you have licked your plate clean and that disappointed feeling you have when you realise there’s none left..you’ve eaten it all..

The only problem with food that makes you feel like that is that it’s all likely to be laden with fat of some kind. Then I managed to stumble across this blog – Fat Free Vegan Kitchen which makes everything look so comforting, and surprisingly fat free!

I’m tempted to make this Lentil and Mushroom Shepherds Pie this weekend! It looks heavenly.

Rxx

Pre-Christmas Shed..

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 02:15:56 +0000

So a lot of my friends are recently engaged, or have recently gotten married, and amidst all they talk about over the months and weeks leading up to the wedding, and during the planning, the most prominent topic is the pre-wed shed. This is the worst crash diet of all – practically starving yourself to shave off those extra pounds so you can fit into that amazing wedding dress you bought which is 2 sizes too small at the moment…so that you lose enough weight just for the day..just for the photos.

Well. I’m taking a leaf out of their book today – minus the starvation. My sister arrives in just over a month, and you all know what that means – carrot cake. THE carrot cake. So with a month to go, and most of the big birthday bashes out of the way (sorry guys – i love you, but the last month has done some serious damage) we’re going to try the pre-christmas shed.

I never work well with long term goals, I know you guys know that. So for now, i’m going to focus on the next 2 weeks – the trickiest part. Where your body craves the fatty unhealthy foods you are depriving it of, where those chocolate cravings creep in, and the caffeine addiction gets the better of you (especially in soy gingerbread latte season!!).

As I sit here, sipping my green tea, thinking about the 0.2g of fat i lose in each cup (guesstimate – I can’t remember how much it is so please don’t take my word for it)..I wonder if I really am up for the challenge.

Bring. It. On.

Rxx

FaceBook Fury..

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 02:42:47 +0000

I’ve been a member of a Vegan facebook group for awhile. I rarely looked at it before – only when i needed a recipe, or some new lunch ideas. That’s what it was initially. I always struggle in the beginning, and when I was first researching my Vegan diet, I struggled with recipes and quick and easy ideas of what to eat.

So in that respect, yes – having an interactive group where people comment is most definately helpful. But recently, this Vegan group on Facebook has turned into animal activists, people who believe that what they are doing is righteous and all meat eaters should be damned. I’m not a fan.

You’re probably asking me why I don’t just leave the Facebook group and ignore it right? Well the truth is, there are still the odd recipe posts and more than that i’m still intrigued. There’s a lot of kids on there – pre-teens, teens, parents as well as people like me. A few of the posts have shocked me :

1. a woman was trying to feed her cat a vegan diet because she didn’t believe in eating meat herself and thereby didn’t believe her cat should.

2. A teenager in a biology class wanted to abstain from doing a lung / kidney dissection

What are your views on these issues?

On the hunt..

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:07:25 +0000

Ok, I’m sure I don’t need to keep repeating the fact that i’m on the hunt for more vegan friendly lunch ideas…but while i’m looking…(well..procrastinating about writing a meal plan really as we all know how good I am at that – the number of times i’ve actually started one, but never finished, is unreal. Really. I don’t know what it is about them that just turns me off. But, needs must. It must be done..)…I came accross this book online, called Speed Vegan. It actually looks intriguing.

But Amazon isn’t friendly enough to let me look inside this one..and I hate not being able to look inside a recipe book before I buy it..because I mean, what if it has no pictures?! Then it would just be boring…

So me, being me of course, went on the google hunt, yet another distraction from writing my meal plans.

I found http://www.alanroettinger.com where Alan Roettinger, the author and chef, gives some examples of recipes which are included in the book.

The first of which i’m going to try as soon as the weather turns cold enough is his Leek & Cauliflower soup..

Leek and Cauliflower Soup

Makes about 6 servings

Cauliflower and curry flavors go well together, which in this case is hinted at by the addition of ras el hanout, a Moroccan spice mixture slightly reminiscent of Indian curry but uniquely North African in character. Feel free to substitute an Indian curry powder for the ras el hanout in this recipe—it will be delicious either way.

1 head cauliflower
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 leeks (white and green parts), finely diced
1 potato, peeled and finely diced
7 cloves peeled garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon ras el hanout or Indian curry powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 quart water
3 vegetables bouillon cubes
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1⁄4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Break the cauliflower into small florets, reserving the very smallest ones separately from the rest (about 1 cup).
Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the leeks, potato, and cauliflower (except for the reserved cup of very small florets). Cook and stir for 1 or 2 minutes, until the vegetables begin to release their juices. Add the garlic, ras el hanout, and salt. Decrease the heat and cook and stir until the mixture is almost dry, about 3 minutes. Add the water and bouillon cubes. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
While the soup is cooking, bring a small pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the peas and the reserved cup of cauliflower florets. Decrease the heat slightly and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and reserve.
When the leeks, potato, and cauliflower are tender, remove from the heat. Working in small batches, process the vegetables and their cooking liquid in a blender. Return the blended mixture to the pot. Stir in the reserved cauliflower and peas.
Warm the soup over medium-low heat. Taste and add more salt, if needed. Stir in the cilantro. Serve at once.

Sounds perfect for snuggling up with on the sofa in the winter…

Comfort Food…Kind Of..

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 06:06:44 +0000

While on the hunt for vegan lunch ideas that are quick and easy to take to work, I thought I would share with you today’s lunch – leftovers. Exciting huh? Well take a look:

Ok so it looks about as exciting as it sounds, but it sure tastes good – pan fried tofu with soy sauce and ginger, stir fried broccoli, and some good old fashioned steamed rice. Comfort food. Kind of…

Lunches

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:57:27 +0000

The one thing i’m struggling with is planning my lunches. I’m so used to taking leftovers to work, or a basic salad for lunch, but now, i’m bored.

I love a hot comforting meal in the evenings at home, but sometimes, client dinners or events, inhibits me from eating at home, and thus, needing something easy to prepare for lunch the next day that isn’t as boring as my boring salad is proving to be a challange.

So i’m on the hunt. For good recipies, quick recipes, easy recipes (well, relatively speaking) that I can prepare the night before, and take to work the next day.

And so the journey begins..

The Return of the Vegan

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:31:15 +0000

A new TV series? nah…just me..and my blog…reunited after an absence of almost 4 months. It never ceases to amaze me how many of you check back and read this…thank you for your continued support. I know I say thank you a dozen times every time I begin to write again, but I can never be thankful enough.

The other day someone I know came up to me and said “so you’re that vegan girl right – I’ve read your blog, I love your writing”. I had never sent her the link, never mentioned my vegan detoxes..so it made me feel good.

I’ve been planning this return for a few months now, and constantly been saying “i’ll start on monday” until someone came up to me and said “are you actually going to specify WHICH monday!?” oops..

Well, i’m not starting on a Monday. I’m starting tomorrow. Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 until…well…lets aim for just before christmas…when that dreaded carrot cake that my sister loves so much, will no doubt appear.

So please, do check back, as I will be posting regularly – or trying to!