Vegans have a higher rate of bone formation than meat eaters reports the Agriculture Research Service, a branch of the USDA.

In this study, although the calcium intake was higher for meat eaters, vegans still showed higher rates of bone formation. The reason behind the difference is that meat protein turns into sulfur when consumed and is acidic. This causes a temporary state of acidosis, a high state of acid. Our bodies compensate to reach a balance by pulling calcium phosphate, an alkaline buffer, from our bones. As you can imagine, the more meat you eat, the more calcium is pulled from your bones.

Vegetable protein, on the other hand, is not acidic and doesn’t require the “borrowing” of calcium from the bones where this natural mineral is most abundant in the body.

Bone formation is critical and lack of bone density can lead to osteoporosis and being more vulnerable to bone fractures.

Read more at the USDA web site.

To your best health,

Mark
http://vegandiet.blogspot.com

Greetings from my first ‘raw roadtrip’! I’m currently in Amarillo, Texas traveling from Chicago back to my home in Arizona and the first roadtrip since starting my raw journey.

Many of you have written to share your experiences when traveling and here’s how I’m doing it.

My first stop before leaving Chicago was Karyn’s, the popular raw vegan cafe, restaurant and marketplace. Picked up a few ready to eat meals (garlic pizza and california rolls… both were great choices) along with some pumpkin seeds, raw crackers and small salad from the buffet. I dropped these into a cooler with some ice packs and went on to Whole Foods Market just minutes away.

At Whole Foods I picked up spring water, 5 bunches of bananas, a quart of fresh strawberries, a bag of dates, and some apples (all organic). Dropped everything in the car and with plenty of food for 2.5 days of driving was ready for my first raw road trip!

In addition to the food I picked up, I had placed an order for the Phi Plus (raw whole food) I’ve mentioned before and had several bags ready to go.

I started the day with several glasses of water and then several hours later added a few bananas and strawberries. Throughout the day I added dates and grabbed a banana whenever I got hungry. At dinner time I pulled out one of the prepared meals from Karyn’s along with some raw crackers. Evening snacks included Phi Plus and dates. I drank less water than I normally do to minimize the stops along the way!

I’m in my last day of travel now, feeling great and still have plenty of food. Eating fresh whole foods I brought along made it easy to eat whenever I was hungry, make fewer stops and gave me lots of energy to be able to drive as long as I wanted.

Share your travel experiences by leaving a comment!

Thanks for reading and all the best for your health…

Mark

If your looking for answers about the raw food diet and lifestyle, I’m excited to share a new resource that’s now available.

Mark Perlmutter, the producer of “Raw For 30 Days” has put together an A-Z encyclopedia of Raw Food including living and raw food experts, celebrities, chefs, doctors that are changing the way people approach health and wellness today.

Read more…

One of the ways I’ve found to save on your grocery bill (next to shopping at your local farmers market) is to grow your own garden. As I show in this video, you don’t need a lot of space to grow just about anything you enjoy. You can dig up a small garden, or use the square foot garden method to grow just about anywhere around your house. You can also use containers as I do if you’re short on gardening space. All it takes is getting some compost locally (I found some at my local Whole Foods) and seeds. Here’s an update on our home garden:

Read more…

This is a colorful and delicious italian style recipe – Raw Ratatouille! It’s fast and easy to make, great for a filling fall dinner.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 Avocado
2 Tomatoes
1/4 cup of Cilantro (optional)
2 cloves of Garlic
1 Squash
1 Tblsp Raw Tahini
1 Tsp Raw Honey
Celtic Sea Salt to taste

Here’s how you make it:

Chop up all vegetables and put in serving bowl. In a separate bowl, add tahini, honey and celtic sea salt. Mix well. Top the vegetables with this thick and tasty dressing! Serves 2.

The dressing can also be used for other dishes, including salads.

Inspired by Storm and Jinjee from their Garden Diet series.

Enjoy!

Mark
Vegan Raw Diet

Many ask me how you learn about a raw food diet, how to be successful, how to lose weight and what you can expect.

Read more…

Recently, the only co-op in the Phoenix area, Gentle Strength, and a leader in locally grown, organic produce, went out of business.

Why?

Bottom line… not enough shoppers.

Sure there were probably a few other reasons, but the main one was lack of business.

It’s funny, though, everyone I talk to in the area is disappointed and saddened by the closing (as I was). However, I believe there was too much talk and not enough action.

If we want to have better, fresher, organic and locally grown choices, we have to support those organizations. Support them with our shopping dollars and with our help in letting others know about the organizations.

Personally, I’ll miss the co-op and the friends I’ve made there. They were the -only- central place to get fresh, locally grown greens and other produce. All the produce sold was organic and as much as possible was sourced locally. The only choices now are the national chains including Whole Foods and Wild Oats (now owned by Whole Foods), a few smaller chains and some traditional grocery chains that now carry some organic produce. I’m happy that they’re all carrying more organic foods, although little, if any, is locally grown. Whole Foods advertises ‘local’ although a quick walk through shows just a few locally grown out of over 200 produce items.

Alternative sources include farmers markets and visiting farms directly. I’ve found a few farms and frequent farmers markets on weekends and can find some of the same items. Although not as convenient, it’s a solution for now.

Find the local co-ops in your area and support them. It’s a fact, traditional companies will continue to market non-organic products and source all over the world unless we ‘vote’ with our dollars. Using as much locally grown organic produce not only supports your community and the environment, the food is also more nutritious and benefits your health.

We can make a difference.. just do it!

To your best health!

Mark