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contents FAMILY & LIFESTYLE 27 AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS THE WRINKLES AWAY

by Dr. Janice Stanger

Breaking News: Fruits can save your life! pg. 37

30

MEAT IS THE NEW TOBACCO!

by Kathy Freston

33

6 WAYS TO STAY HAPPY AND SLIM THIS SUMMER OF LOVIN’

by Carolynn Scott-Hamilton

Discover how to spread the veggie message the RIGHT WAY. pg. 44

THE FUN SIDE OF VEGETARIAN LIVING HOT SHEET 10 VEGAN 101 13 YOGA FOR THE VEGGIE SOUL 15 ROCK STAR 16 FIT QUICKIES 19

NUTRITION AND THRIVING 37 EATING FRUIT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE

by Dr. Michael Gregor

ORDINARY PEOPLE/ EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS 44 RIP ESSELSTYN

One Fireman’s Crusade to Rescue the World

contents FEATURE VEGANISM ON FIRE 49 RECIPES FOR FOODIES RIP ESSELSTYN 60 Polenta Pizza Banana Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

MARK REINFELD 61

REGULARS 05 CREDITS

VegWorld Staff & Contributing Writers

06

EDITOR’S NOTE

68

REVIEWS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A Message from the Editor of VegWorld Magazine, Steve Prussack

Vegworld’s Pick of the month Veggie World Travels

Six Herb Botanical Juice Linguini with Clam-free Sauce

KARMA CHOW 64 Holy Moly Green Gazpacho Quinoa Strawberry Salad Make this refreshing strawberry quinoa salad for friends this summer. pg. 65

Can’t believe this linguini with clam sauce is vegan? Try out the recipe. pg. 62

Got MIND-BLOWING Coconut Water? You’ll love our pick of the month. pg. 68

CREDITS VegWorld Staff Editor-In-Chief: Steve Prussack Associate Editor: Julie Varon Graphic Design: Veronique Zayas Magazine Layout: Lise-Mari Coetzee Media: Raw Edge Productions

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Melissa Costello

Dr. Pam Popper

Natasha Cuculovski

Mark Reinfeld

Rip Esselstyn

Carolyn Scott-Hamilton

Dr. Michael Gregor

J.D. Mumma

Ally Hamilton

Kim Sheridan

Lani Muelrath

Dr. Janice Stanger

Vance Lehmkuhl

Robin Tierney

Luca Padalini

Dr. Will Tuttle

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EDITOR’s NOTE

A Message from the Editor of VegWorld Magazine, Steve Prussack

W

elcome to the first anniversary of VegWorld Magazine. Here we are, 12 issues from our initial launch and what a perfect time to reflect on where the vegan movement is and where it might be going.

I

often wonder the best way to spread the message of healthy eating, sustainable living and compassion. The desire to get scientific-based information out to the public led to the birth of VegWorld Magazine.

A M

fter almost 20 years of following a vegan diet, I recently was attacked in a Facebook vegan group. The unnamed person aggressively remarked that I am not really vegan because I have interviewed people in the past who are now promoting animal products. y radio show has been a big part of my career and has always promoted a plantbased lifestyle. If I interviewed a non-vegetarian on the show, it was to share lifechanging information the thought leader was promoting. I feel we can learn from many people, no matter what their lifestyle may be. This attack led me to question whether we are in this together or nit-picking each other to determine who is vegan enough. Where is our energy better spent?

S

hould a vegan producer be condemed because he interviewed someone who does not follow the same lifestyle? Or, is it possible that interviewing someone on a vegan-themed program might influence the guest (subconsciously) to explore the theme of my program furthur? I have found that leading by example and not shaming others is my own best method of creating change (and opening eyes). Other veggie leaders don’t feel the same and are more aggressive in their approach. This magazine will explore these areas furthur and provide you with the opportunity to lend your voice to the debate (we have included a survey in these pages).

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EDITOR’s NOTE

A Message from the Editor of VegWorld Magazine, Steve Prussack

A

nother thing we’d like to announce is our brand-new VegWorld Magazine “Hangout on Air” vegan chef series. This is being launched in the next couple of weeks and you will have the opportunity to connect with us along with celebrity vegan chefs (and more) in the upcoming weeks. Want to learn how to create simple, easy, affordable and quick vegan recipes in a snap? Simply Tap here to find out more about our Hangout on Air programs (all free with your subscription to VegWorld Magazine). I look forward to connecting with you during these live events. They will be informal, fun and extremely interactive.

Publisher of VegWorld Magazine

VegWorld Magazine

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The Fun Side

Of Vegetarian Living Hot Sheet Vegan 101 Yoga For The Veggie Soul Rock Star Fit Quickies

Vegan Hot Sheet

hip and happening vegan stuff Pamela Anderson may be 45 years old, but she still has the toned bikini body of someone 20 years younger.

ie The Vegg uth of Yo Fountain

The buxom 5-foot-7 Pamela, a former fitness instructor, has been a vegetarian since her teens, and recently switched to a vegan diet. “I have Hepatitis C and I feel great, which I think has a lot to do with my diet,” Pam said in 2010. “I feel better [following a vegan diet]. I always feel healthy.’’

SHOUT OUT BY:

JAMES CAMERON

Filmmaker James Cameron Is Still A Vegan — and he picked a massive celebration to remind the world. The 58-yearold “Avatar” director and ocean explorer was honored on June 13 during the National Geographic Society’s 125th anniversary gala with “Explorer of the Year” for his successful solo dive last year to the deepest point of the Pacific Ocean. During his speech, Cameron urged the packed house of scientists and explorers to consider dropping animal products and reap the benefits.

“I’ve had an epiphany recently,” Cameron said. “I want to challenge all of you as people of deep conscience, people who are environment stewards of the earth and oceans … By changing what you eat, you will change the entire contract between the human species and the natural world.” .

NYC Public School First to Swap Chicken Nuggets for Tofu Braised black beans and plantains, tofu roasted in Asian sesame sauce, Falafel and cucumber salad - these aren’t menu items from a high-end restaurant.

They’re lunchtime grub for students at a Flushing, Queens public school’s allvegetarian cafeteria. It’s the first in New York City to nix meat, and believed to be one of the first public school in the U.S. to serve only vegetarian fare.

P.S. 244 in Flushing, the Active Learning Elementary School, which opened in 2008, gradually started offering vegetarian meals more and more days a week, reducing the days per week they served traditional cafeteria food like chicken nuggets, according to its principal and co- founder, Robert Groff.

“The founding of our school was based on health and nutrition and teaching kids how to make healthy choices in the belief that they would be more successful academically and in their life,” Groff said.

Celebrities

HOT VEGAN

NAIL POLISH

Dazzle Dry, a cosmetics company recently partnered with R&B singer Esnavi to launch a new line of vegan formula nail polish that lasts through those nail breaking moments.

Currently the line consists of three great colors for your summer wardrobe including ‘Morning Dew’ green, ‘Oh My!’ coral, and ‘Planet E’ violet. The paint lasts and could replace your favorite gel polish.

HOW’S THAT FOR A W edding REQUEST?

Health expert to the stars and bride-tobe Rainbeau Mars is asking her wedding guests to participate in a three-week cleanse prior to her big day.

Pass it on: Johnny Depp Reportedly Goes Vegan According to sources, actor Johnny Depp has gone vegan. While VegWorld Magazine could not confirm this story, several news outlets have published that the Pirates of the Caribbean star has turned to the cruelty-free diet after urging from his girlfriend Amber Heard.

“Rainbeau hopes that by requesting her guests try out a vegan, and subsequently live food, diet for 21 days, everyone will look and feel their best for HER big day,” her publicist recently reported.

The report sites an unnamed source as saying Depp has “taken up a vegan diet and Pilates after she told him about the benefits and now he’s raving about losing his paunch.”

Mars, who is known for her yoga DVDs, will marry Hollywood business manager Michael Karlin on July 2 in Kauai, Hawaii, but the festivities will reportedly span three days. Breathe work classes, yoga and horseback riding will be among the activities awaiting the guests.

He has also eliminated booze from his diet that now reportedly no longer includes meat or dairy. That’s positive news for the veggie community from someone like Depp, who has been fairly closed off to the media about his personal life.

COOKING SEXY In a sassy new ad for PETA, Tia Mowry wears nothing but an apron made of lettuce leaves, showing that vegan cooking can be both fun and sexy. The ad reads, “Let Veganism Grown On You” and points out, “A vegan lifestyle is better for your health, the planet and animals.”

The former “Sister, Sister” and “The Game” star told the animal rights organization: “I wanted to become a voice for my community...I wanted to educate my culture about the benefits of becoming vegan. The more you learn about the benefits of being vegan, the more you become alive and the more you become aware of why it’s a really great decision. Not only am I helping myself, I’m helping the animals out there, I’m helping the environment — going vegan, I feel great.”

Vegan101

101 Ultimate Guide New A veganThe diet is healthy and simple.

If a slimfor waistline, lots ofVegans: energy,

“But, Where Will I Get My ___?” and a reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer have you wondering if a vegan diet is for you, find all your answers here!

But where will I get my protein?

PROTEIN CAN BE FOUND HERE:

PROTEIN NEEDS,

46 g

BAGEL

1 med.: 9 g

AGE 19-70

56 g

SPAGHETTI

cooked, 1cup: 8 g

LENTILS

cooked, 1 cup: 18 g

PEANUT BUTTER SOY MILK 2 Tbsp.: 8 g

BLACK BEANS

cooked, 1 cup: 15 g

plain, 1 cup: 7 g

SOY YOGURT plain, 6 oz.: 6 g

VEGGIE BURGER 1 patty: 13 g

BREAD

whole wheat, 2 slices: 5 g

TOFU

firm, 4 oz.: 11 g

POTATO

1 med.: 4 g

CALCIUM CAN BE FOUND HERE:

And what about calcium for strong bones?

NEEDS: 700 to 1,000 mg daily

BROCCOLI, COLLARD GREENS, ALMONDS, MUSTARD GREENS, SESAME TAHINI, SOYBEANS, KALE, FORTIFIED DRINKS

Hey, I need iron, too!

FOOD

DAILY

IRON NEEDS

8-18 mg

FOR EASY EXTRA IRON: COOK IN CAST-IRON PANS

8-11 mg

To increase iron absorption, eat foods rich in vitamin C, such as dark-green, leafy vegetables and citrus.

IRON (mg)

1 cup cooked soybeans 2 Tbsp. blackstrap molasses 1 cup cooked lentils 1 cup cooked kidney beans 1 cup cooked chickpeas 1 cup cooked lima beans 1 cup cooked Swiss chard

8.8 7.0 6.6 5.2 4.7 4.5 4.0

THANKFULLY, YES!

Are there fish-free omega-3 fatty acids?

Sure are! And they’re perfect for a healthy heart, brain, skin, and joints.

Eat flax seeds, flax oil, walnuts, hemp seeds, purslane, and vegan omega-3 DHA.

What about vitamin D?

VITAMIN D CAN BE FOUND HERE:

Found in: sunlight, fortified nondairy milks, and fortified orange juice.

Vitamin D helps maintain a healthy growing body.

What won’t you find in a vegan diet?

Cholesterol. Vegan diets are also lower in saturated fat.

Both of these can increase your risk of developing heart disease and high blood pressure

WHAT–AND WHO Average cholesterol level of an American: Meat-eater:

210

Vegetarian: A cholesterol level higher than 200 raises your risk for coronary heart disease.

You can save your green and eat it too!

161

Vegan:

133

SAVE A LOT OF MONEY–AND LIVES

Vegan options are cheaper at the grocery store and reduce the likelihood of needing expensive doctor visits, medicine, and heart surgeries in the future.

vs.

LENTILS SERVING SIZE: PROTEIN: EWG CARBON FOOTPRINT RATING:

COST: FAT: SATURATED FAT:

PORTERHOUSE STEAK

1 cup 17.9 g BEST out of 20 analyzed

4 oz.

22 g 2nd WORST out of 20 analyzed

20¢ 0g 0g

$4 22 g 9g

sumption of anim h con Hig otein is linked to these al : pr

PROSTATE

Average cost of artery bypass surgery: $3,714 Average cost of coronary bypass surgery: $57,439

Are you ready to adopt a healthier and compassionate lifestyle? Visit PETA.org/VSK.

BREAST

COLORECTAL

Ally’s Corner: Yoga for the Veggie Soul

Ally’s Corner:

Yoga for the Veggie soul

by Ally Hamilton

Hello Yogis. I hope you are enjoying the summer as much as I am.

away, camping - any time you might find yourself sitting a little too much.

We’re in the heat of it now, and I’m sure many of you are taking the opportunity to travel and explore. So, I thought this month I would introduce a sequence you can do on days you might be travelling. It’s good for road trips, long weekends

Stretch those hips and hipflexors, your hamstrings, front and back body, and get yourself back into the swing of enjoying your summer.

Lots of love, Ally Hamilton

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ally Hamilton practiced yoga in New York City with the incomparable Dharma Mittra.

She has been teaching yoga to students and instructors in Los Angeles, California since the beginning of 2001. In 2009, Ally opened an extremely popular and successful yoga studio, Yogis Anonymous, in Santa Monica. Ally also instructs a world-wide audience at ww.yogisanonymous.com. VegWorld readers can also try Ally’s Online Yoga Training for 15 days free.

Tap Here to sign up for your free trial (Enter coupon code “VegWorld” for 15 days free)

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Rock Star | Vance Lehmkuhl

A TRUE VEGAN ROCK STAR:

USING SCIENCE AS AN INSTRUMENT

I

f I say “vegan rock star,” Chrissie Hynde or Moby or Jason Mraz might come to mind. You certainly wouldn’t think of T. Colin Campbell, a 79-year-old professor emeritus of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University.

But Campbell’s half-century of research in nutrition, hundreds of peer-reviewed papers and a key role in the world’s most comprehensive study of health and nutrition,

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the “China Study,” have surely made him a rock star in the plant-eating world.

Using the Facts as His Muse Far from an animal-rights guy, Campbell went vegan on the basis of the evidence. With decades of data and food-policy experience under his belt, Campbell speaks candidly and lets the chips fall where they may - even if it’s in the compost heap.

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Rock Star | Vance Lehmkuhl Campbell’s impressive credits are many.

He summarized the groundbreaking “China Study” (which the New York Times called “the Grand Prix of epidemiology”) in a 2004 book of the same name he co-authored with his son, Thomas. He also co-starred in the documentary Forks Over Knives, and was part of the team that helped Bill Clinton go plant-based.

Campbell is the very person who coined the term whole-food, plant-based (“WFPB”), which he introduced at a National Institute of Health panel in 1978. This eating pattern is the most scientifically sound approach for optimum health, he asserts, noting that plants offer unique antioxidant benefits while, conversely, animal protein is associated with a wealth of disease risks.

principle, red wine is found good for you in one study, and bad for you in another.

Having started his inquiry as a dairy farmer looking to maximize yields, Campbell for many years “worked and researched on a nutrient-by-nutrient basis.” But, much like the quintessential rock star, Campbell has come to see nutrition as “multiple mechanisms acting in concert.” With his new book, Campbell seeks to explain these findings, how our current food paradigm ignores the complexities of the human body, and why

Recipe books by innovative chefs, like Lindsay Nixon, show the “average Joe” how to eat like a rock star and stay healthy in the process.

Not Just a “One Hit Wonder” In “The China Study,” T. Colin Campbell and his son, Thomas, revolutionized the way we think about our food. As he explained in a recent interview, “If you took the best of medicine, it cannot match what this can do.”

Now, in his new book, “Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition” (BenBella), just released last May, he explains the science behind the study’s findings. If you want to understand the connection between food and health, this is the book to read.

In his new book, Campbell faults an emphasis on reductionism (reducing a complex idea to a way too simple one) for sowing nutrition confusion among the public. For example, due to this

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Rock Star | Vance Lehmkuhl our eating habits haven’t changed despite a growing body of evidence that everything we thought we knew about nutrition is wrong.

There’s a “B” Side to This Rock Star’s Album Here’s his kicker for self-satisfied vegans touting the meat-vs.-plants stuff: The optimal WFPB plan excludes all oil and added fats.

Come a-whaaaa? Who is this crackpot?

French fries? Onion rings? Margarine?

“Heart-healthy” olive oil? Zero? Seriously?

Seriously.

Campbell’s medical colleague, Caldwell Esselstyn, succeeded in reversing heart disease in patients with an animal- and oilfree eating plan. This stricter regimen also appears effective at fighting weight gain, diabetes and cancer.

But come on, how can Joe Average live without oily food?

Fortunately, along with “Whole,” BenBella released “The China Study Cookbook,” showing how healthy WFPB meals can be delicious and simple to prepare.

On the Verge of a Vegan Rock Star Revolution?

There seems to be an entire campaign pushing WFPB, with May also seeing the release of Rip Esselstyn’s “My Beef With Meat” (Grand Central). (Rip is highlighted this month in VegWorld Magazine’s “Ordinary

T. Colin Campbell is a true vegan rockstar who’s body of work is based in irrefutable facts, not hype.

People, Extraordinary Results” on page 43.)

The younger Esselstyn (Caldwell’s son) was an Austin, Texas, firefighter/EMT who got his whole firehouse to go WFPB with terrific results. He’s also something of a vegan rock star, and in this book he delivers not just facts about the livestock industry but 140 WFPB recipes.

Probably the most established and popular cookbook chef in this field, though, is Lindsay Nixon, whose “Happy Herbivore” books have brought the WFPB ethos to millions, with added doses of fun and creativity. She recently released “Happy Herbivore Abroad” (BenBella) and is now working on her fifth book in the series.

“Whole” is a welcome volume – a rock-star follow-up that avoids the sophomore slump.

But even if you don’t want all the WFPB backstory, you can start with one of the recipe books and try these healthful dishes for yourself.

You too can be a vegan rock star. You have nothing to lose but your food chains!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vance Lehmkuhl is a cartoonist, writer, musician and 12-year vegan. “V for Veg” chronicles plant-based eating in and around Philadelphia. VforVeg@phillynews.com or @V4Veg on Twitter.

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Exercise Quickies with Lani

What your

calf muscles are dying to tell you

T

here’s something that your calf muscles are dying to tell you. Think about it. When you sit down, recline, or otherwise get off your feet, what happens to your calf muscles? They check out of the program, don’t they?

This is fine for a while – especially if you have been on your feet and active all day. But what if the reverse is true for you: Up for an early breakfast and maybe a short walk or other bout of fitness, followed by a commute to work where you spend hours mostly seated at a desk, punctuated by bathroom and lunch breaks. Maybe “lunch” is even spent sitting down at a table, or even at your desk, as you catch up with personal tasks, correspondence, or simply reading a good

VegWorld Magazine

book. Commute home, dinner seated at a table, evening…well, you get the idea.

In the March issue of VegWorld Magazine (“The Fitness Issue”), we highlighted “The Power of “The 5 Minute Fitness Break” – and how important it is to avoid sitting for long stretches at a time by breaking it up each hour with some activity. This month we’re going to take a look at more of the specifics of inactive physiology when it comes to one of the key players that you may not know play a major role in your metabolic function – your calf muscles. Plus, I’ve provided you with a bonus video so you can take action right away.

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Exercise Quickies with Lani

If you’re feeling an aching or heaviness in your legs or getting unsightly vericose veins or swolen ankles, chances are your calf muscles are screaming to be exercised.

Ignoring Your Calf Muscles Can Be Downright Hazardous Your calf muscles have the very important distinction of being what we call your “peripheral pump.” That’s because they reside outside your body cavity yet, like your heart, play a significant role in healthy circulation.

This is also exactly why having the calf muscles checked out of the program for extended periods of time – as happens with sitting or reclining – can not only be less than optimal for your health, it’s actually hazardous.

As a peripheral pump, not only do the calves assist in your locomotion, they also have the important role of moving your blood, against gravity, from your lower extremities and back to the heart for re-oxygenation.

VegWorld Magazine

Picture this: To keep circulation in your lower legs fresh, blood is sent to your lower legs via arteries, arterioles and capillaries. As the muscles of your calves contract, they create an ebb and flow of pressure on the veins in the legs, keeping the circulation in the lower legs active.

By the time blood flow reaches your toes, there is precious little pressure left to counter the gravity and get the blood flow back up to your heart. Thus as the circulation slows – which happens the minute you get off your feet – the flow of blood and a fresh supply of oxygen is limited. In addition, fluid becomes trapped in your lower legs.

This can result in the following symptoms, among others: • aching in the legs • heaviness in the legs Issue 012 - July 2013 |

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Exercise Quickies with Lani • swollen ankles • sluggish energy • varicose veins

Is Standing the Solution?

Partially. Yet extended periods of time standing delivers its own brand of health problems as well. The static nature of simply standing doesn’t do much more for the calf muscles than sitting. Any way you look at it, inefficiency of the calf muscle pump leads to poor circulation, reduction of venous return, and lymph system slowdown.

As it turns out, the best option for overall health is to vary your position during the day.

That means alternating sitting with standing –

and being sure to move around to get those calves in gear.

A “Fit Quickie” That Will Get Your Circulation Pumping in no Time My simple quick solution to work into your day is my Legs Into Play Fit Quickie – so named because it brings all the muscles of the legs into play quite quickly, specifically targeting the muscles of the calves. This gets your peripheral pump immediately fired up, resulting in increased circulation, oxygenation of the blood, and removal of excess fluid in the lower extremities. The result?: Instant invigoration, restored mental clarity, increased energy and improved outlook – in

Your calf muscles serve the important role of moving your blood back to your heart, against gravity.

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Exercise Quickies with Lani

Firing up your calf muscles gives you an instant boost of energy and mental clarity - in just seconds.

seconds.

The Ultimate Fix

The Fit Quickie #10 practice video is provided at the end of this article. Be sure to pay attention to aligning your body correctly, keeping your posture strong with vertical spine in neutral, anchored position, legs straightened, and gluteals contracted to create the workload throughout the body.

1. Break up both periods of sitting and standing by alternating them through your day.

By contracting your gluteals and maintaining a straightened leg, the other muscles of your legs come into play as well, including the hamstrings and the quadriceps. This assists the whole blood flow and muscle engagement operation to your benefit. Not only do you give your circulation a boost, you get leg-shaping benefits as well.

VegWorld Magazine

2. Practice Fit Quickie #10, Legs Into Play, several times a day – whenever you get a chance. For example, right now I am standing at my home office computer station – and am doing a few quick reps

Get up out of your chair and move your calf muscles for shapely legs and a boost of healthy energy throughout the day.

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Exercise Quickies with Lani or rising to my toes and down again as we speak. It’s that easy to fit it in.

3. If you MUST be seated for an extended time – such as in the window seat on an airplane, ideally you would get up and stand or walk around the plane for a

few minutes. In a pinch, you can do Fit Quickie #10 in seated position. Try it!

4. Elevate your legs intermittently during the course of the day. Try Legs Into Play now – or as soon as you get a chance –for a star on your exercise chart!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Award winning Lani Muelrath, M.A., CGFI, CPBN, FNS - The PlantBased Fitness Expert - is author of the Best Selling book “Fit Quickies: 5 Minute Targeted Body Shaping Workouts.”

Lani created and starred in her own CBS TV show, “Lani’s All-Heart Aerobics.” She overcame her own lifetime struggle with weight over more than 15 years ago when she lost 50 pounds, which she has maintained easily with the tools that she uses to coach others to be successful with in weight loss, body shaping, and health. Learn more about Lani at www.lanimuelrath.com.

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FAMILY

AND LIFESTYLE

An Apple A Day Keeps The Wrinkles Away Meat Is The New Tobacco 6 Ways to Stay Happy and Slim this Season of Summer Lovin’

An Apple A Day Keeps The Wrinkles Away | Janice Stanger

An Apple a Day Keeps the

Wrinkles Away

N

o one wants to look older than their years. And most of us would go to great lengths to prevent wrinkles – from covering ourselves head to toe on beautiful sunny summer days to slathering on the sunscreen to buying expensive wrinkle creams. Some people even resort to extraordinary measures like surgery. Most sunscreens and lotions, however, have hidden chemical ingredients that can cause more harm than good. And I won’t even discuss the dangers of unnecessary surgery.

But what if I told you there’s a much simpler way to avoid wrinkles by doing something you love? Before I get there, let me first explain the complex workings of your skin and why wrinkles form in the first place.

and allow you to feel touch, temperature and pressure.

The complexity of your skin is dazzling and important to appreciate. In just one square inch of skin you have about 500 sweat glands, 1,000 nerve endings, yards of tiny blood vessels for nourishment, 100 oil glands, 150 pressure sensors and millions of cells.

This intricate structure is separated into an inner and outer layer. Each layer, in turn, has its own distinct architecture of many additional layers.

Changes in skin with aging are normal. But premature wrinkles can be indicative of a poor diet.

Wrinkles are a Natural Part of Aging; Premature Wrinkles are not.

Your skin, your largest and heaviest organ, mirrors the health of your body. Your 20 pounds or more of skin protect you, regulate body temperature, make essential chemicals,

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An Apple A Day Keeps The Wrinkles Away | Janice Stanger The deeper skin layer has both tough and stretchy protein fibers. As you age, your skin becomes thinner and less elastic. The protein fibers have less ability to bind water to keep your skin plumped.

Wrinkles form. While these marks of long life can be beautiful, the larger concern is that premature skin aging signals poor eating habits that can impair longevity and enjoyment of life.

Whole Plant Foods: Destroyers of Free Radicals, Protectors of Skin So what’s that simple secret I promised that will help you prevent premature wrinkles? It’s Most women attack wrinkles superficially, with creams and procedures. Real wrinkle prevention comes from the inside out.

that delicious bowl of fresh summer fruit on your counter. That’s right, a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables will not only keep your taste buds happy, it will shield your skin from damage that can lead to wrinkling. Here’s why.

Radiation from the sun or a tanning booth causes free radicals to form. These are electrically charged particles that can damage cells in your skin. Of course, free radicals also emerge as part of normal metabolism, so all your cells (skin included) are bombarded by these hazardous particles even without any sun exposure.

Environmental pollutants, smoking and manmade chemicals in most personal care and cleaning products also generate free radicals, and should be avoided as much as possible.

Vitamins and phytochemicals – beneficial substances found only in plants – are powerful destroyers of free radicals. These food molecules that attack free radicals are more commonly known as “antioxidants.”

Here’s something else you may not know: While all classes of whole plant foods are excellent sources of antioxidants, herbs and spices are particularly rich in protective phytochemicals. Eat an abundant variety of vegetables, fruits, beans, potatoes and whole grains cooked without added oils. You will do best to eat minimally processed fresh, frozen or dried plant foods.

Meat and Dairy are Wrinkle Villains and Supplements Can’t Save You While whole plant foods protect your skin from aging and wrinkles, meat, dairy, butter, margarine and sugar are associated with VegWorld Magazine

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An Apple A Day Keeps The Wrinkles Away | Janice Stanger increased skin damage. These dangerous foods contribute to free radical damage, inflammation and illness throughout your body.

But why can’t I eat what I want and just take a vitamin pill? Well, it’s not that easy.

Supplements – pills and liquids which unnaturally concentrate isolated nutrients – cannot destroy free radicals and support good health with nearly the effectiveness of whole plant foods. There’s no way around it. If you want to look better, you need to eat better.

Fresh Fruits and Veggies are the Only Magic Pill A plant-based, whole-food diet, rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, contributes to higher bone mineral density, helps maintain muscle mass as you get older and protects you from chronic disease – including cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, cataracts and cancer.

Since your skin is the most visible part of your body, premature wrinkles should be a warning that you are not making good food choices. Your skin works hard to perform its various functions and protect you.

Fresh fruits and veggies destroy free radicals caused by sun exposure, while meat and dairy contribute to free radical damage (and wrinkles).

or easier, depending on your eating habits.

The advantages of the right food choices will show up in a smoother appearance and overall better health. Now isn’t that a sunny fact?

You can either make your skin’s job harder

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Janice Stanger has a Ph.D. in Human Development and Aging from University of California, San Francisco. As an adult, she went through multiple unsuccessful weight loss attempts, binge eating, and numerous chronic illnesses and debilitating pain. Since following the Perfect Formula Diet the author is now in Perfect Health, at her Perfect Weight, and takes no prescription drugs (with ideal cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose level) at age 58.

Find out more about Dr. Janice Stanger by visiting her website (tap here).

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Meat Is The New Tobacco | Kathy Freston

MEAT IS THE NEW TOBACCO

F

or many years, tobacco companies were able to maintain a strong pro-tobacco façade. Smoking focuses the mind. It’s good for you (even doctors smoke!). It’s great for weight loss. It’s sexy. It’s cool. The tobacco industry spent big bucks to keep these ideas in the mind of the public for as long as it could.

And for many years after the lethal effects were universally known and undeniable, some of our nation’s smartest and most successful businessmen continued to believe, because it was in their interest to believe, that “nicotine is not addictive.” I was remind-

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ed of how far tobacco has fallen reading a New York Times magazine interview with perhaps the most successful screenplay writer in history, Joe Eszterhas. He lost 80 percent of his larynx to tobacco, and apologized for his glamorization of smoking in such films as Basic Instinct.

When I think about the effect of animal products on human health, I’m reminded of how quickly we’ve done a national about face on tobacco, and I look forward to the day when the Times magazine has a similar apology from someone who promoted animal products. Because the evidence is in and it

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Meat Is The New Tobacco | Kathy Freston This of course begs the question: Where’s the warning label on that package of burgers at my local meat counter?

The evidence shows that meat and dairy kill more Americans than tobacco. So, when will deli counters be forced to display warning labels?

continues to grow: Animal products kill a lot more Americans than tobacco.

The West’s three biggest killers – heart disease, cancer, and stroke – are linked to excessive animal product consumption, and vegetarians have much lower risks of all three. (See “The Top 15 Killers and How Vegetarians Avoid Them,” VegWorld Magazine, April 2013). Vegetarians also have a fraction of the obesity and diabetes rates of the general population. Of course, both diseases are at epidemic levels and are only getting worse.

But much more important than the vegetarian community’s general statistics is what can be done with the right vegetarian diet: For some years now, doctors have been not just preventing, but even reversing, heart disease using a low-fat vegetarian diet. That’s right – the disease that kills almost as many Americans as everything else combined can be not just prevented, but reversed, with a low-fat plant-based diet, as documented by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn in “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.”

Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me There’s a lot of money in the meat industry, just like there’s a lot of money in big tobacco.

And, that money is well-spent buying things like meat anti-disparagement laws, clever advertising and junk science. And, just like big tobacco, the meat industry has other tricks up its sleeve.

For many years, the tobacco establishment pointed to elderly smokers like George Burns and millions of others as proof that their very-natural product could not be harmful.

Even long-distance runners and members of the military could be found smoking a cigarette at the end of a long run or intense drill. Similarly, today the meat industry points

Just as big tobacco exemplified George Burns, the meat and dairy industries epipomize long-lived meat-eaters, while conveniently ignoring rising health epidemics from their products.

And according to the American Institute for Cancer Research, about as much cancer could be prevented by diet and exercise as is caused by smoking! And you know what’s causing all that cancer? It’s not whole grains, legumes, fruits or vegetables. Dr. T. Colin Campbell has documented the link between cancer and animal products.

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Meat Is The New Tobacco | Kathy Freston to the fact that there are an awful lot of old meat-eaters. They do this while conveniently ignoring our sky-high heart disease and cancer rates, as well as our ballooning rates of obesity and diabetes, all of which are linked to their products. Bill Clinton went on what he was told was a healthy diet after his emergency quadruple-bypass in 2004, and yet he didn’t lose weight or feel better, and he required followup surgery in 2010. After that surgery, he was introduced to the work of Dr. Esselystyn and Dr. Campbell, and he went vegan – which allowed him to lose 24 pounds in a year and feel better than ever, as he told Wolf Blitzer on CNN.

One day - hopefully soon - we may see confessionals by Hollywood stars who now glamorize meat and dairy.

Waiting on a “Chicken Wing Confessional”

percent since 2007. It seems that more and more people are catching on to the perils of animal foods.

Eszterhas wrote in his tobacco mea culpa, “My hands are bloody; so are Hollywood’s.

My cancer has caused me to attempt to cleanse mine. I don’t wish my fate upon anyone in Hollywood, but I beg that Hollywood stop imposing it upon millions of others.” He could just as easily have been writing about animal foods, which is why I was delighted to read Mark Bittman’s 2012 New York Times column in which he noted that meat consumption is down more than 10

It may be a while before eating a chicken wing is seen, as it should be, as the heath equivalent of smoking a cigarette. The meat industry is still more powerful than tobacco has ever been, and most of the medical establishment is not yet as nutrition-focused as progressive scientists and doctors like T. Colin Campbell and Dean Ornish. But the best research clearly points in that direction, and more and more, I’m seeing cause for optimism. Happy Eating!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathy Freston is a bestselling author and health and wellness activist. She is the New York Times bestselling author of “The Lean,” “Veganist,” and “Quantum Wellness.” A media favorite, Kathy has appeared frequently on national television, including Ellen, The Dr.Oz Show, Charlie Rose, Good Morning America, The Talk, The Martha Stewart Show, Extra and Oprah.

Tap here to learn more about Kathy Freston.

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6 Ways to Stay Happy and Slim this Season of Summer Lovin’ | Carolyn Scott-Hamilton

6 Ways to Stay Happy and Slim

this Season of Summer Lovin’

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f you haven’t noticed, summertime is wedding time. One of my many hats is that of a wedding planner, so I definitely get my fill come fall – be it from working them or going to them. Without a doubt, it is difficult to stay healthy at such events, but have no fear: Your healthy, voyaging, event planner is here to help.

spend all morning getting ready so all you have is coffee and maybe a starchy bagel.

You arrive at the glorious event famished, so you gorge on hors d’oeuvres and alcoholic beverages. You pick at your lame and tasteless meal, which, for us veggies, is often cold pasta, and you feel like a cow come the bouquet toss. Sound familiar?

The trip is exhausting enough and flights or road trips are an excuse to eat fast and convenient. Then you get to the hotel and eat a nice, expensive, in-room meal that is most likely greasy and consumed at an ungodly hour. Fast forward to wedding day where you

Here are a few tips to keep your trip to, at and from the festivities enjoyable and guilt free:

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1. Pack plenty of travel-friendly, healthy items like apples, bananas and other

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6 Ways to Stay Happy and Slim this Season of Summer Lovin’ | Carolyn Scott-Hamilton late (that always leads to trouble)! Plan ahead, eat breakfast and get there on time.

3. At the hotel, try to resist temptation. Instead of ordering room service, find the local grocery store, get a cheap cooler and stock up on veggies, fruit and easyto-make sandwich or other simple veggie options for dinner and breakfast.

4. On the wedding day, eat breakfast and don’t forget to pack your protein bar. Drink lots of water so you feel full and don’t cram a million spring rolls in your mouth at the cocktail hour.

When travelling to weddings (or any event), be sure to pack lots of Make sure you have told protein bars and fruits that don’t require refrigeration. the bride and groom in advance about your dietary needs, so the caterers have no surprises the day of. If fruits that don’t require refrigeration. Also, you forget this crucial step, your dinner pack enough protein bars for the flight/ will likely be close to inedible, since they ride, wedding day and trip home. Vegan didn’t account for you. Again, make sure Food Bars and Vega bars are yummy and to plan ahead! vegan!

2. If you are stuck at an airport, there is always some kind of place in the food court to get a sandwich or a salad that you can order your way. Smoke may come out of the fast food person’s ears.

But just ask, and they will do it with proper instruction. Take an extra few minutes to scour your terminal. Many airports now have a “Chili’s to go,” and you can get a great salad there or – my personal fave – a black bean burger with all the fixin’s (sans cheese). Don’t run

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Traveling to wedding destinations this summer doesn’t have to mean the end of healthy eating.

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6 Ways to Stay Happy and Slim this Season of Summer Lovin’ | Carolyn Scott-Hamilton

Make sure to tell the bride and groom of your dietary needs before the big event. If you wait until the wedding day, you are likely to get a substandard meal.

5. Try not to eat all of the bread at the table before dinner starts. If you’re starving, then you must have forgotten your bar or snack. I give you permission to devour your salad and be mindful of your portion size at dinner.

6. For dessert try to resist the temptation

of wedding cake and instead load up on fresh fruit! And if you prefer, reward yourself with a well-deserved drink or two. For Pete’s sake, you’re at a wedding!

Whatever you do, make sure to enjoy this season of summer lovin’!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carolyn Scott-Hamilton, aka The Healthy Voyager, is the Executive Producer, Creator, Host and Writer of The Healthy Voyager web series, site and overall brand. A holistic nutritionist, plant-based vegan chef, best-selling cookbook author, sought-after speaker, film-making, screen-writing, traveling, singing, dancing, fun-loving, healthy and green-living wife, The Healthy Voyager aims to help people live well, one veggie at a time!

Tap here to visit Carolyn Scott-Hamilton’s Healthy Voyager website.

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NUTRITION

AND THRIVING Eat Your Fruit As Though Your Life Depends On It (Because It Does)

Eat Your Fruit As If Your Life Depended On It | Michael Greger, M.D.

EAT YOUR FRUIT

AS THOUGH YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON It (BECAUSE IT DOES)

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ummer fruits are, by far, the most delicious of the year. There’s nothing like a juicy ripe mango, plump berries or a melt-in-your-mouth peach. But according to Dr. Michael Greger, M.D., getting your fruits every day is not only desirable, but essential to your good health. Here’s what Dr. Greger has to share with regard to eating your fruit (and veggies).

The World is Not Eating Enough Fruits and Veggies Did you know that whether you get your “apple a day” can actually be a matter of life and death? It’s true. As I discuss in the following video, the World Health Organization (WHO) blames millions of deaths every year on inadequate fruit and vegetable intake.

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Eat Your Fruit As If Your Life Depended On It | Michael Greger, M.D. There are many reasons for the lack of fresh produce in diets worldwide. Here in the U.S., one reason may very well be that doctors are not informed on nutrition – either in medical school or as part of their continuing education. So, they rarely recommend a diet rich in fruits and vegetables to prevent (or even cure) disease. Another reason is that infinitely more dollars are spent on advertising for things like candy bars, soda and other processed junk foods than on fruits and veggies. As a result, most people are uninformed on the importance of fresh plant foods in their diet.

Whatever the reason, one thing is clear: Americans are falling far short on their nutritional needs. For example, the 2005 USDA Dietary Guidelines recommended a minimum of just one serving of whole fruit a day. But, even at this low level, 75% of people did not meet the requirement. In Greece, where a health agency formulates the dietary guidelines, nine servings of fruit and vegetables a day are recommended.

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75% of Americans didn’t even meet the 2005 USDA recommendation of a single serving of whole fruit a day!

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Eat Your Fruit As If Your Life Depended On It | Michael Greger, M.D.

What’s more, the average American isn’t making up for this lack of fruit with other healthy plant-based foods. As I discuss in the video below, the standard American diet rates extremely low on the “healthy eating index,” a relatively new marker of a healthy diet. This accurate index is calculated based on the percentage of daily calories derived from phytonutrients, which are critical nutrients found only in plant foods.

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Eat Your Fruit As If Your Life Depended On It | Michael Greger, M.D. Thankfully, the 2010 USDA Guidelines have finally caught up with the science and recommend shifting towards a plant-based diet. How and when the word will get out to the mainstream public, however, remains a critical question.

Not All Fruits Are Created Equal, but All Protect Your Health

People who eat an entirely plant-based diet have lower health risks than those who add lots of fresh fruits and veggies to an animal-based diet.

Different fruits and vegetables have different phytonutrients, so variety in your diet is important.

In fact, the science shows that greater fruit and vegetable intake can help prevent a variety of differing ailments later in life. And each fruit and veggie has its own special features.

With regard to dementia, for example, fruits and vegetables have been found to each have beneficial impacts on different parts of the brain.

The World Cancer Research Fund’s recommendation is to choose a diet that is rich in a variety of fruits and vegetables for cancer prevention. The best fruits for cancer prevention in general are probably berries, such as black raspberries. But survival rates from a number of cancers, including breast cancer, appear to be aided by a plant-based diet that includes a multitude of fruits and vegetables.

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Eat Your Fruit As If Your Life Depended On It | Michael Greger, M.D. Varied fruit and vegetable consumption helps cut the risk of many other diseases as well. For example, including a variety of fruits and veggies in your diet helps prevent hardening of the arteries – a condition created largely by meat consumption. Fruits – especially citrus fruits – also reduce heart disease risk as well as improve survival from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

One study even shows that fruit consumption lowers your risk of COPD (emphysema). Fruit consumption may also be protective against glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration.

As you can probably gather by now, every fruit is a super food in its own way. Apples are one of the healthiest foods around, with idared and red delicious leading the way. Avocadoes are the best fruit source of cholesterol lowering phytosterols. Kiwis have also been found to improve cholesterol levels.

Watermelon is a rich source of citrulline, which, among many other things, boosts your immunity and energy level. Dragon fruit may be helpful to our gut bacteria. And adding just a single serving of berries to your diet every day could add a year to your life span.

Every Fruit Beats out Animal Foods Any Day On average, plant foods have 64 times more antioxidants than animal foods. While this statistic accounts for some extremely healthy berries most of us don’t eat, as I explain in my video below, even iceberg lettuce has more antioxidants than fish, chicken, eggs and most meat. Indian gooseberries, blackberries, dried apple rings, dried pomegranate seeds, black plums, pears, cranberries, apples, goji berries, acai berries and blueberries are great sources of antioxidants.

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Eat Your Fruit As If Your Life Depended On It | Michael Greger, M.D.

Plant foods have 64 times more antioxidants than animal foods on average.

Even iceburg lettuce has more than fish, chicken and eggs.

Finally, even if you or someone you know includes loads of fresh fruits and vegetables into a diet which also includes animal products, studies show you are not as protected against diseases like cancer as those following a pure plant-based diet. As it has often been said, it’s not just what you add to your diet that makes you healthy; it’s what you take out.

So rejoice that it’s summer fruit time once again. And keep in mind that fruits are not only delicious, they are nutritious and necessary for a long and diseasefree life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Greger, M.D., is a physician, author, and internationally recognized professional speaker on a number of important public health issues. Dr. Greger has lectured at the Conference on World Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the International Bird Flu Summit, among countless other symposia and institutions, and testified before Congress. Currently Dr. Greger proudly serves as the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States.

Tap here to find out more about Dr. Greger’s Nutrition Facts website.

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ORDINARY PEOPLE

EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS Rip Esselstyn: One Fireman’s Crusade to Rescue the World

Rip Esselstyn: One Fireman’s Crusade to Rescue the World

Rip Esselstyn: One Fireman’s Crusade to Rescue the World This month, VegWorld Magazine salutes the work, mission and advocacy style of Rip Esselstyn, an ordinary firefighter who became an extraordinary crusader for a healthy, plant-based diet.

Speaking the Language of the Mainstream Rip’s unintentional crusade began in 1997 when he became a firefighter with the Engine 2 Firehouse of the Austin Fire Department.

While serving there, another firefighter fell ill, and in an attempt to save him, Rip put his entire firehouse on a whole-food, plantbased diet. The effort was a success for the ill firefighter as well as for the health of the

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entire firehouse. To share his success story, Rip wrote the national bestselling book, “The Engine 2 Diet,” which shows the irrefutable connection between a plant-based diet and good health.

Rip has recently written a second book entitled, “My Beef with Meat.” What we find extraordinary about this new book is that it was written specifically with “veg-curious” meat-eaters in mind. As such, it stands as a model guide to convincing the average Joe that a plant-strong diet is truly the best

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Rip Esselstyn: One Fireman’s Crusade to Rescue the World way to eat. Rather than resorting to shaming, Rip arms his readers with the knowledge they need to comfortably make the veggie switch…or to win over others who doubt the health benefits of a plant-based diet. He also reveals information on foods, like dairy and fish, which most people believe are healthy, but which scientific research shows are not.

In this VegWorld first anniversary issue, we ponder why – in the face of mounting scientific evidence – so many still haven’t gotten the message that a plant-strong diet is superior for our health. Rip’s work stands out as an information-based, plain-spoken, non-shaming advocacy model to be emulated. With more voices like Rip’s out there, the world will be healthy, compassionate and vegan in no time!

Don’t Just Tell Them it’s Good, Show ‘Em! Most recently, Rip has teamed up with Whole Foods Markets to showcase his plant-strong foods to the world. Here in Los Angeles, the editors of VegWorld Magazine have – many times – enjoyed dishes made from recipes in Rip’s books and sold from a vegan hot bar

The way to a person’s heart is through their stomach. Esselstyn’s latest venture demos to the public just how good vegan food can be.

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Rip Esselstyn’s recent book, “My Beef with Meat,” was written to arm his readers with the knowledge to win any argument in favor of a plant-strong diet.

painted to look like a fire engine (two such recipes can be found in the “Recipes for Foodies” section of this July issue). We have marveled at the exposure Rip is gaining for a plant-strong diet just by demonstrating on a large scale how yummy vegan food can be.

Recently, Rip discussed his new book – why he wrote it and what he believes it accomplishes. A portion of that interview is reprinted below. We hope Rip inspires you as much as he inspires us.

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Rip Esselstyn: One Fireman’s Crusade to Rescue the World

Why did you write this book?

I’ve discovered that there is a huge disconnect between what people think is healthy and what medical science knows to be healthy; for example, people have been bamboozled into believing that olive oil, Greek yogurt, chicken, and fish are healthy. Many people think the diet of the day is salmon, low fat dairy, and olive oil, washed down with Rip Esselstyn persuades his readers by giving them “real science, not fad-diet talk.”

“Many people think the diet of the day is salmon, low fat dairy and olive oil, washed down with a glass of red wine and a Lipitor pill. This is not a good diet!”

- Rip Esseslstyn

a glass of red wine and a Lipitor pill for good measure. This is how confused, distracted, and off-course we have gotten – because this is not a good diet!

In my book, I explain to plant eaters and meat eaters alike why a whole-food, plantstrong diet rocks on a jillion different levels, hence the subtitle: The Healthiest Argument for Eating a Plant-Strong Diet. The primary driving force behind the book was to delve deeper into the major myths that keep surfacing about eating plants, such as: “You won’t get enough protein”, “You won’t get enough calcium”, “Eating plants is too expensive”, “Real men (and women) eat meat”, “Olive oil is heart-healthy”, and “Moderation in everything.” I give my readers real science, not fad-diet talk.

There are some controversial things you tackle in this book, like the Paleo Diet. Why did you decide to address that specific diet?

The two big dueling diets right now are paleo and planteo. I believe that the paleo diet is VegWorld Magazine

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Rip Esselstyn: One Fireman’s Crusade to Rescue the World

This delicious kale salad is one of the many plantstrong recipes Rip shares with his readers.

just a good gimmick. The paleo people have taken the South Beach/Atkins diets and put a little spin on it. There are some positives with paleo, such as no refined or processed foods, and no dairy products. But any diet that promotes animal products with saturated fats, and animal protein isn’t promoting health.

The consensus among the researchers who have studied the diets of humans in paleo times have said that at least 80 percent of their food was plant-based. Yes, they ate some animals, but we’ve evolved since then, we’re smarter; we do not need, want, or get healthy from animal products. Back in the day, you would do anything you could to get calories into your body – it was a matter of survival. But in this day and age, you can go down the street to any grocery store and get all that you need without resorting to animal flesh.

An interesting article in US News & World Report in 2011 reviewed many different VegWorld Magazine

popular diets and decided that the one people should avoid is the paleo diet. What about the people who say that they get results from a paleo diet? That’s because the Standard American Diet (SAD) is such an abomination you will get good results when switching to any diet that is even remotely healthier. If you want to get to the next step, cut out the meat!

There are a couple of chapters that talk about how plant-strong can make you stronger in the bedroom. Why do plants help in that department?

Plants help in a number of ways. When you are eating meat, dairy and processed foods, your arteries clog up. Believe it or not, the smallest artery men have is the artery to the penis, so it’s not surprising that one of the first signs of heart disease is erectile dysfunction (ED). When you start eating a plantIssue 012 - July 2013 |

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Rip Esselstyn: One Fireman’s Crusade to Rescue the World strong diet, you begin to metabolize away some of the fat/cholesterol that you’ve built up, and you start to restore your endothelial lining.

As my dad (Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn) likes to say, “Endothelial cells are the life jacket of your vascular system.” They are the inner lining of our 65,000 miles of vessels. When you bring them back to life, they produce nitric oxide. Nitric oxide allows those vessels to open up. When that happens, it allows for more blood flow, which is key to a great erection. (See also “Real Men Eat Kale,” Veg-

World Magazine, June 2013).

Interestingly, the one area that we have more endothelial cells per unit volume is the male penis. It’s amazing how many guys e-mail us and tell us about their ED going away. Likewise, women experience similar success.

When they cut out the animal products and processed junk foods, they have increased blood flow to the clitoris and surrounding tissues, which creates lubrication. We’ve also received hundreds of e-mails from women telling us about their new, healthier sex life as a result of going plant-strong.

MORE ABOUT RIP ESSELSTYN

Recently Rip left his job as a firefighter to team up with Whole Foods Market as one of their Healthy Eating Partners to raise awareness for Whole Foods employees, customers, and communities about the benefits of eating a plant-strong diet. He has appeared on hundreds of radio shows as well as national television shows, including the Today show, CBS SundayMorning Show, Good Morning America, and TheDr. Oz Show.

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E R TU A FE

Veganism on Fire: Will It Become an Inferno (and How)?

VEGANISM ON FIRE:

WILL IT BECOME AN INFERNO (AND HOW)?

One year ago this month, VegWorld Magazine first hit Apple’s Newsstand with President Bill Clinton on the cover and a headline that read “Why is Vegan Becoming Mainstream?”

W

e marveled then at how far the image of a vegan had come – from that of a scrawny, pale-faced youth to that of a healthy mainstream celebrity, like Scarlett Johanson and Liv Tyler, with gleaming skin and endless vitality.

We delighted in the mounting number of studies that now make it impossible to

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ignore the superiority of a plant-strong diet for human health; we highlighted breakout documentaries – like Forks Over Knives and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead – now playing on television sets across mainstream America.

And we let our readers know – if you “go veggie,” you are in good company!

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Veganism on Fire: Will It Become an Inferno (and How)?

Stuck at 5%?

And it’s true. The plant-strong diet has for some time now stood on the precipice of mainstream acceptance. But why, then, does the number of people following a veggie diet seem stuck at 5 percent of the population? When you unveil the secret Fountain of Youth shouldn’t it sell itself? What more do you need (other than the facts) to spark a veggie inferno?

Obviously, there are profit motives for keeping the world stuck on meat and dairy. But another reason veganism hasn’t yet become the conventional way of life may lie in unforeseen – and unexpected – places.

A small number of vegans seem to be holding back the movement by fighting - or talking down to - the very people they seek to influence. This is not the best way to spark a revolution.

Consider this example. Recently, the Editorin-Chief of VegWorld Magazine was attacked on the internet for his work and views. This is to be expected when one takes a strong stance against conventional norms, right?

Well, maybe. But this particular attack did not come from a meat- or dairy-advocacy group or think tank like the Weston Price Foundation; it came from someone holding himself out as a “hard core” vegan.

It turns out, our Editor-in-Chief – who has been vegan for 19 years and now devotes his career to spreading the message of compassion – is not “vegan enough” because he respects non-vegans and even sometimes includes their work in his magazine and programs. Say what??

It’s Not Just What You Say, but how You Say it This is just one example of what might be

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going wrong. The message of “I’m better than you” doesn’t often sit well with others.

It seems a small number of people in the movement are hanging on to an outdated (and angry) way of speaking to the very people they seek to influence. Is this really the best way to spark a revolution? We don’t think so.

Last year VegWorld Magazine launched with a single goal in mind: Model for the world the benefits of a veggie lifestyle and entice more people to follow it on their own initiative. As we now reflect on our first year in publication, and move forward into the next, we want to know: Are we (both the magazine and the broader movement) speaking the right language? In our zest to protect the rights of animals who may become dinner, have we forgotten that people are animals worthy of respect too?

To find out, we talked to some longtime vegans and some new faces in the veggieliving movement. We asked them what they think does and doesn’t work in getting out the word. Here’s what they had to say:

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Veganism on Fire: Will It Become an Inferno (and How)?

Voices of the Movement – What Works and What Doesn’t?

Dr. Pam Popper, Ph.D., N.D.: “Build Unity and – Together – Encourage Others” never touch coffee or alcohol, and never indulge in anything sinful like birthday cake or chocolate. The rationale is that if you have one cookie, you’ll invariably eat all of the cookies in a 60-mile radius; and white sugar (oh my!) in the birthday cake is the first step on the slippery slope back to the Standard American Diet.

Why is it that a diet that produces such spectacular results, is delicious, inexpensive, and now quite easy to adopt, is not more popular? Some of the reasons include inadequate training for health professionals, particularly dietitians and doctors; financial conflicts of interest that affect recommendations by disease groups and others; and inaccurate information from the government.

But another obstacle to progress is the purists who believe that people cannot be healthy unless they adopt a complete vegan diet, eliminate all salt and sugar,

It sometimes feels as though we’re trying to have a contest to see who can promote the most restrictive, difficult version of a plantbased diet. And, really, how attractive is that to a non-veggie?

We should instead teach people how to change their relationship with food and it’s availability (treats at parties and special events, not in the pantry!) and encourage people to live happy lives in which they can fit in with “the others” who don’t yet eat a health promoting diet. By the way, this would also go a long way in helping people to entice their friends into wanting to adopt this lifestyle too.

Natasha Cuculovski and Luca Padalini, Love Truth Joy Yoga: “We no Longer Have the Luxury of Taking ‘Baby Steps’” To be honest, it’s amazing that anyone is able to understand and adopt a vegan diet and lifestyle in the face of the onslaught from our animal-foods-based and profit-driven culture. It takes much more than just nutritional information to change a person’s diet and lifestyle.

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Veganism on Fire: Will It Become an Inferno (and How)?

As Margret Mead said, “It is easier to change a man’s religion than to change his diet.” The transition to a comprehensive vegan lifestyle needs to happen a little more gradually for most people and vegan advocates need to recognize this.

Yet, veganism requires us to question everything and shake the foundations of the status-quo, despite how ridiculed we might be.

As Gandhi said “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” We need to stop caring about what other people think and start standing up for the innocent animals at our mercy.

As to how we can most effectively communicate the vegan message, we believe it’s not a one size fits all approach. Some people need the hard hitting, shock and awe approach (it certainly worked for us!). For example, there’s what some are calling a Vegan Revolution happening in Israel right now, inspired by one of America’s more hard line vegan activists who uses the term “animal holocaust” to a Jewish audience, and it works! Other people may respond to a more compassionate and gentle approach, some to spirituality, to humor or emotion.

Division in the community, as we are experiencing now, is an opportunity for us to review what’s working, and what’s not. It’s a case of the ends justifying the means - if Meatless Monday is going to ultimately lead people to veganism, then great. But realistically it isn’t.

What we see is people becoming complacent, taking “baby steps”, thinking they’re doing enough and feeling good that they’ve given the animals a day’s grace …but they’ll make up for it on Tuesday!

Life on this planet as we know it is at a crossroads, we no longer have the luxury of taking “baby steps” and the vegan movement needs to unify and emphasize the urgency for change.

JD Mumma, Mediator and long-term vegan: “Humans are People Too” Many people “go vegan” because they have extreme empathy when it comes to the suffering of other sentient beings. Ironically, however, there seems to be a significant number of proselytizing vegans who seem to be unconcerned with how they “educate.”

These same crusaders of empathy for animals feel it is perfectly acceptable to

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Veganism on Fire: Will It Become an Inferno (and How)? shame, belittle, judge or embarrass nonvegan humans.

In my experience, this style is not only hypocritical, but ineffective. The more you push a person, the more entrenched they become in their original position and the less truth they hear.

Unfortunately, talking to these vegans about peaceful (non-attacking) strategies is like talking to a non-vegan about what there is to eat if they didn’t eat meat. But being passive is only one of numerous peaceful strategies.

Most actually require direct action which is

the opposite of being passive. In fact, being peaceful in the face of real violence often takes far more courage. To see this, we need only look at effective models for change, like Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. My end goal is to direct people towards a plant-strong lifestyle by increasing their empathetic and compassionate thoughts, emotions and feelings. Given the many studies showing that behavior modeling directly influences the thoughts and actions of others, it seems the only way to effect real change is to model empathy and compassion in our dealings with others.

Dr. Will Tuttle, author of “The World Peace Diet”: “Transform ourselves and serve as models for change” As I discuss in “The World Peace Diet,” when we strip away the surface trappings of our culture, we discover that we live in what is essentially a herding culture, completely organized around dominating and exploiting animals for food and products. Veganism is a revolutionary movement and aims to completely transform this culture at its core, which is absolutely essential for our survival because the herding orientation is utterly outmoded and devastating on every level.

I believe that we in the vegan movement must understand this and work to transform ourselves so that the exploitive, manipulative, and patriarchal attitudes we have all inherited by being raised in this culture can be transformed. From this foundation we can educate and inspire more people to join the vegan revolution — a benevolent revolution of loving kindness, radiant health, and creativity.

The individuals and groups that facilitate this are the ones doing the real work. Groups that do little more than beg for crumbs at the doors of entrenched power, declaring victories when a few inches are added to the size of animals’ cages, are not helping. Nevertheless, the vegan revolution is coming relentlessly, and it is a glorious transformation that I feel calls forth the best from all of us. It is the most important work anyone can engage in, and by changing ourselves, we are definitely changing our world.

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Veganism on Fire: Will It Become an Inferno (and How)?

Kim Sheridan, Award-winning author and filmmaker: “Vegan with Backbone” My husband Jameth and I were building a business, HealthForce Nutritionals. We had been working around the clock, crafting our messaging and labeling in a way that would not offend anyone. We weren’t seeing great success.

Then, we had an epiphany. We decided instead to put ourselves out there: the real us; the hard-core, stand-up-for-those-whocan’t, do-the-right-thing-already conviction, proud vegan warriors. We didn’t mince words when explaining why our products were vegan; what that meant; what animal ingredients really were (organs or flesh or whatever); and why exactly we didn’t include or endorse them. And with that, we found our niche. The company took off, our customer base grew, and we finally had a dedicated following.

What’s the bottom line? That it’s good to stand up for what we believe in. In fact, it’s important to do so. People recognize and respect conviction. There’s such thing as being too politically correct. If no one ever stood up for anything, then slavery would still be legal, and I wouldn’t have the right to vote.

Likewise, my original decision to go vegan was triggered by some very disturbing literature I received in the mail from Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

Had they chosen to offend no one, they wouldn’t have sent such honest, blatant depictions of the truth in the mail. It was that very hard, cold, full-color, disturbing reality that inspired me to make the leap to a vegan lifestyle. Yes, it was disturbing, but it was the truth.

We need to stop apologizing for being vegan. We’re not doing anything wrong.

Our dietary choice isn’t meant to fluster the hostess at Thanksgiving dinner. It is meant to honor and stand up for the voiceless victims who can’t stand up for themselves.

It’s something to stand by proudly. Not in a holier-than-thou, I’m-better-than-you sort of way; but rather, in an I-won’t-back-down and I-invite-you-to-join-the-peaceful-crusade sort of way. I call it “Vegan with Backbone.”

Because veganism is not just a choice; it’s not just a lifestyle; it’s truly a cause. And that’s a good thing. Causes are what help the world to evolve.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!...

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IMAGINE

THE DAY WHEN ALL ANIMALS ARE FREE TO BE.

Working together, it’s within reach. For over a decade, Mercy For Animals has been campaigning diligently to prevent cruelty to farmed animals and promote compassionate food choices and policies. Through education, undercover investigations, corporate outreach, and legal advocacy, we are changing the course of history for animals -- inspiring both compassion and change.

Join us.

MercyForAnimals.org

RECIPES

FOR FOODIES Polenta Pizza Banana Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies Six Herb Botanical Juice Linguini with Clam-free Sauce Quinoa Strawberry Salad Holy Moly Green Gazpacho

Polenta Pizza | Rip Esselstyn

Polenta Pizza Serves 4-6 Organic Ingredients: • 3-4 cups water (depending on your brand of polenta) • 1 cup organic polenta • 16 oz. E2 approved tomato sauce • 2 cups fresh spinach • 3 large tomatoes, sliced • 1 cup pineapple, cubed • ½ cup roasted red peppers • 2 cloves garlic, crushed • (Other favorite pizza toppings: mushrooms, arugala, asparagus, or olives) • 1/3 cup nutritional yeast

Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Prepare pizza stone by sprinkling with organic corn meal or line a pan with VegWorld Magazine

parchment paper.

3. To boiling water, add polenta and whisk until mixture thickens and there are no clumps (instructions for preparing polenta vary from brand to brand -check the specific preparation instructions for your type of polenta).

4. Pour polenta mixture onto pizza stone or pan and flatten into desired crust shapes: round pizza, square pizza, mini-pizzas, elephant pizza, fire-hydrant pizza.

5. Precook the polenta crusts for 10 minutes.

6. Remove crusts from oven, add sauce, toppings and sprinkle with nutritional yeast.

7. Return to oven and cook in oven for 10 minutes.

8. Slice into generous portions and serve warm. ©Engine2Diet

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Banana Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies | Rip Esselstyn

Banana Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies Organic Ingredients:

Directions:

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• 1 tablespoon vanilla

2. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

• ¾ cup natural chunky peanut butter • 3 tablespoons grade B maple syrup • 2 cups old fashioned oats • ½ cup unrefined whole wheat flour • 1 teaspoon baking powder • ¼ teaspoon Celtic sea salt (optional) • ½ cup non-dairy chocolate chips or raisins

3. Mix bananas, vanilla, peanut butter and maple syrup into a creamy consistency in a large bowl.

4. In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder and salt.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until they are well combined -the batter should be slightly sticky.

6. Fold in the chocolate chips or raisins.

7. Place rounded, heaping tablespoon-sized balls of the batter onto an ungreased baking sheet.

8. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

9. Gobble these up while they are still warm.

ABOUT THE CHEF

Recently Rip left his job as a firefighter to team up with Whole Foods Market as one of their Healthy Eating Partners to raise awareness for Whole Foods employees, customers, and communities about the benefits of eating a plant-strong diet. He has appeared on hundreds of radio shows as well as national television shows, including the Today show, CBS SundayMorning Show, Good Morning America, and The Dr. Oz Show.

Rip lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Jill Kolasinski and their two beautiful children, Kole and Sophie.

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Six Herb Botanical Juice | Mark Reinfeld

Six Herb Botanical Juice Serves 4

Recipes courtesy of The 30 Minute Vegan’s Taste of Europe Combining six popular herbs and one of Germany’s most popular juices, this refreshing beverage is super simple to prepare. Please do not be deterred if you do not have all six herbs, you can alter the combination and quantity to suit your fancy. Enjoy as a between meal elixir.

Organic Ingredients:

Instructions:

• 4 cups water

1. Place a small pot over high heat. Add the water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.

• 2 tablespoons fennel seeds • 2 tablespoons lemon grass • 2 tablespoons rose hips • 2 tablespoons hibiscus flowers • 2 tablespoons chamomile flowers • 2 teaspoons peppermint • 3 cups freshly juiced apple juice • Sweetener to taste

2. Add the herbs, stir well, and allow to steep for 20 minutes. Strain well.

3. Add the juice and mix well. Add sweetener and mix well. Pour into four glasses with ice.

Variations • If you have more time, allow to chill for 30 minutes or longer in the refrigerator before serving.

• Replace the apple juice with your favorite fruit juice.

• Create a sparkling beverage by adding 1 cup of sparkling water to the juice and mixing well before serving.

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Linguini with Clam-free Sauce | Mark Reinfeld

Linguini with Clam-free Sauce This was one of my favorite dishes as a child growing up. It was a revelatory moment when I discovered the possibility of a vegan version. The shiitake mushrooms serve as clams and arame imparts the flavor of the sea.

Serves 4 Organic Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste • 12-ounces linguini rice pasta • 1 3/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste • 2 tablespoons arame • 1/2 cup hot water • 2 tablespoons olive oil • 6 garlic cloves, pressed or minced • 3 cups shiitake mushrooms, 1/2-inch cubes • 1/2 cup white wine • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice • 1 1/2 cups soy milk, rice milk, or macadamia milk • 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast • 2 tablespoons vegan butter, optional • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

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• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes • 3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley • Pine nuts

Instructions: 1. Cook pasta according to package instructions, optionally adding 3/4 teaspoon of sea salt to the boiling water.

Drain well.

2. Meanwhile, soak the arame in hot water.

Place the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Add the shiitakes, white wine, and lemon juice, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, and adding small amounts of water or vegetable stock if necessary to prevent sticking.

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Linguini with Clam-free Sauce | Mark Reinfeld 4. Add the soy milk, nutritional yeast, vegan butter, if using, remaining teaspoon of salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, arame, and arame soak water, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. To serve, place the pasta on each plate, top with the shiitakes and sauce, and garnish with the parsley and pine nuts.

Variations:

• For an even creamier sauce, blend 1/4 cup cashews with the soy milk before adding.

• Add 1/2 cup grated vegan cheese along with the soy milk.

• You can replace the shiitakes with reconstituted dried shiitakes.

• Replace the linguini with your pasta of choice such as spaghetti or angel hair.

ABOUT THE CHEF

Mark Reinfeld is the winner of Vegan.com’s Recipe of the Year Award for 2011 and has over 20 years experience preparing creative vegan and raw food cuisine. Mark was the Executive Chef for the North American Vegetarian Society’s 2012 Summerfest, one of the largest vegetarian conferences in the world. He is described by VegCooking.com as being “poised on the leading edge of contemporary vegan cooking”. He is the founding chef of the Blossoming Lotus Restaurant, winner of Honolulu Advertiser’s ‘Ilima Award for “Best Restaurant on Kaua’i”. Mark is also the recipient of a Platinum Carrot Award for living foods – a national award given by the Aspen Center of Integral Health to America’s top “innovative and trailblazing healthy chefs.”

Tap here to find out more about Mark.

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Gazpacho: A Light Summer Soup | Karma Chow

Gazpacho: A light Summer Soup

Holy Moly Green Gazpacho It’s officially Summer! I thought that a light and refreshing Gazpacho would be just what you need in the summer heat!

• 1 yellow bell pepper, de-stemmed and de-seeded • 1 garlic clove • 2 green onions, white parts only

I love Gazpacho because it’s super simple to make. You can literally throw a vast array of veggies in a blender, and presto, you have soup!

• ¼ cup fresh cilantro or basil

This version is green, creamy and oh so good!

Use any variation of veggies you want. I have really been delighting in all the heirloom cukes available right now at the markets. They help to sweeten up this Gazpacho naturally.

• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Organic Ingredients: • 2 ripe avocados • 2 persian or heirloom cucumbers

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• Juice of 2 limes • ¼ cup vegetable broth or water • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil • 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne or chipotle chili powder • salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure: 1. Place all ingredients in a blender, and blend until creamy smooth. Serve chilled.

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Quinoa Strawberry Salad | Karma Chow

Quinoa

Strawberry

Salad: A Fruity Summer Delight

Quinoa and Strawberries come together for a delicious, proteinpacked, fruity delight. It’s a wonderful dish to take to a summer picnic or potluck soiree.

Bursting with flavor and texture, and using seasonal, local strawberries, this light and satisfying salad will be a crowd pleaser. The zippy lime vinaigrette brightens the nuttiness of the quinoa and pops out the flavor of the juicy strawberries.

Feel free to substitute the jicama for a yellow or orange bell pepper. You can also use any kind of nuts you like, other than pistachios. Pistachios have so many wonderful uses, though, such as on salads, in pesto and even my coconut based, vegan pistachio ice cream.

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Quinoa Strawberry Salad | Karma Chow

Quinoa

Strawberry Salad Serves 6-8 Procedure: Organic Ingredients: • 1 cup quinoa, rinsed, cooked and cooled • 1 cup strawberries, hulled and quartered

Cook the quinoa according to package directions and set aside to cool. Combine all of the other ingredients together in a large bowl and drizzle with the Lime Vinaigrette. Stir together to combine.

Lime Vinaigrette • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

• ½ cup jicama, peeled and diced

• 3 tablespoons lime juice

• 1 avocado, peeled and diced

• 2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar

• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped mint

• 2 teaspoons grade B Maple Syrup or Coconut Nectar

• 3 tablespoons dry roasted pistachios

• Sea salt Mix all of the dressing ingredients together in a blender or shaker bottle until well combined.

ABOUT THE CHEF Touted as one of the Top Ten “Hottest” Chefs of 2011 by ManCave Daily, Cookbook Author, Professional Speaker, Culinary Nutritionist & and founder of Karma Chow, Melissa Costello has always had a passion for nutrition and healthy eating. Laden with multiple illnesses as a child, Melissa started to use food as medicine to help herself heal. Her keepit-simple approach to nutrition and cooking has created a large following for Melissa and her business, Karma Chow. Her mission is to educate the planet about healthy, whole food eating as a lifestyle and not just another fad diet.

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REVIEWS

AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Harmless Harvest The Necessary Next Evolution Madison: A Vegan Spree in Dairyland

Pick of the Month: Harmless Harvest

VegWorld’s

Pick of the Month

Harmless Harvest

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Pick of the Month: Harmless Harvest

T I

his month we highlight Harmless Harvest, a product that combines taste, health, earth stuardship, and fair practices into one refreshing beverage.

n 2009, Justin Guilbert and Douglas Riboud created Harmless Harvest with the mission to promote positive consumerism and natural capitalism. With that in mind, they took note of the burgeoning coconut water market, various brands filling shelves with little distinction except for marketing, and the common failure to taste “fresh from the coconut.� And they sought to produce a a healthier product in a way that promotes peace, freedom, and justice for all.

The pair set off on two years of research and development, joining forces with likeminded farmers, academics, scientists and raw-foodists. They established a system to sustain and deliver raw coconut water to the masses through the use of a cuttingedge heatless high pressure system.

Sourced from organic agroforestry in Thailand, the coconuts are harvested by hand at the peak of flavor and nutrition.

The old-growth ecosystems have long been grown organically, and Harmless Harvest assists in USDA certification, giving the farmers a broader and more profitable portion of the market.

Most importantly, we think Harmless Harvest coconut water is delicious. It’s a great beverage on a hot, summer day and a naturally healthy alternative to drinks like gatorade to replace your electrolytes.

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Madison: A Vegan Spree in Dairyland | Robin Tierney

Madison:

A Vegan Spree in Dairyland

Y

ou don’t expect to see a big red billboard displaying the “V” word in an area nicknamed America’s Dairyland.

But there it is, announcing MadisonVegan.com’s www.madisonvegan.com new restaurant guide.

The website helped me decide where to eat while exploring the lakes, urban and rural bike trails, music and art of Wisconsin’s capital city. I had barely five days, but there are enough tempting restaurants to fill five weeks.

“We have quite a few vegan options for a city this size,” says Didi Racicot Densmore,

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who belongs to Madison Area Vegans (motto: “Your lifeboat in in a Midwestern sea of cheese”).

The billboard is among projects launched

by Alliance for Animals and the Environment www.allanimals.org. Others include a weekly Simply Vegan e-newsletter, citywide Vegan Chili Cook-offs and the annual Mad City Vegan Fest www.veganfest.org.

“The more people use the word ‘vegan,’ the more it will become a household word,” says Alliance director Lynn Pauly. Tasty vegan dishes appear on nearly every Madison menu, and have won many omnivore fans.

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Madison: A Vegan Spree in Dairyland | Robin Tierney In this vibrant city nestled between two lakes, the cuisine’s based on zestily seasoned regional farm-fresh ingredients. The hearty meals supply energy for biking and hiking Madison’s hundreds of miles of well-planned trails (no need for a car). Along the way, you’ll pass community gardens, amusing sculptures, red-winged blackbirds, glittering lakes and the beautiful domed State Capitol.

There’s plenty to do from dawn to midnight, especially during the summer. Fantastic local Vegan oases, like Ladona Cafe, are surprisingly common in the hearland of the U.S.

bands - folk, country, jazz, blues, Celtic, indie rock, polka - play around town, including free near-nightly shows at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union Terrace http://www. union.wisc.edu/terrace-events.aspx.

Visit Monona Terrace

www.mononaterrace.com, not just because it’s based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s design, but for free day and evening rooftop events, from family-friendly entertainers to Tai chi classes. The lake and downtown views are also terrific.

Water fun ranges from $5 pontoon sunset cruises provided by Madison School & Community Recreation to stand-up paddleboard yoga with Maureen Hebl www.wingraboats.com.

Make time to head 15 miles west to Heartland Farm Sanctuary http://heartlandfarmsanctuary.org. The good-natured rescued residents serve as therapy animals for at-risk youth and nursing home residents. Simply visiting is therapeutic.

Now, back to the food. The best places are also affordable, and many offer discounts for those with Bicycle Benefits http://www. bicyclebenefits.org helmet stickers.

Ladonia Cafe

www.ladoniacafe.com is a new 100% vegan food cart located at the University’s Library Mall Wednesday through Friday and on Capitol Square Saturdays during the Dane County Farmers’ Market http://dcfm. org (a must-visit wonderland for foodies).

Amie Swanson’s BLT beats the “real” thing: sweet-savory house-made tempeh, marketfresh lettuce and tomato on locally made batch bakehouse bread, sided with light potato home fries. Equally delicious: corn/

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Madison: A Vegan Spree in Dairyland | Robin Tierney

Mouthwatering desserts, like this mint cheescake, can be devoured at the Green Owl Cafe in Madison.

red pepper tamales with slow-cooked pinto beans and organic brown rice. Get the freshsqueezed lime-ade with grated ginger! Cash only.

Banzo

www.banzomadison.com is another cashonly food cart at Library Mall and Capitol Square. Sure bets include crispy falafel balls with seared eggplant and the hummus.

Banzo’s pita dough comes from Israel.

The Green Owl Cafe With the surprising number of vegan options, Madison makes an attractive vegan vacation destination.

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www.thegreenowlcafe.com serves veg versions of traditional meat dishes. Vegan meet-up organizer Dave Friedman likes the vegan schnitzel; I like the tangy jackfruit BBQ sandwich topped with crunchy vegan-slaw.

The drinks infused with market-fresh produce get raves. Don’t leave town without trying the house-made desserts - all vegan, they include mint cheesecake and coconut bars.

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Madison: A Vegan Spree in Dairyland | Robin Tierney

Himal Chuli

(No website) serves nourishing, healing and absolutely delicious Nepalese fare. I had a Yogi-Jogi tarkari of delicately spiced eggplant, zucchini, potatoes and radishes, the khichadi mung bean-cilantro stew with thyme-like ajwain seeds, and a divine dal.

Cash only.

Mother Fool’s Coffeehouse

www.motherfools.com proves that wonderful treats don’t require animal products.

Indulge in housemade soups (miso, groundnut stew) and decadent treats - including the raw, gluten-free local-made Paradox confections. Great coffee, kombucha and weekend live music.

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Ha Long Bay

www.hlbmadison.com serves plentiful vegan options (specify “no fish sauce”). The shredded papaya salad (which I ordered with “medium” heat) could double as dessert, and the spring rolls are works of art.

Bandung

www.bandungrestaurant.com earns raves for its Indonesion fare. Nicole Steck says, “the vegan Indo mac n’ cheese insanely good, and their vegan Long Island Thai Tea is to die for.”

The Weary Traveler

www.wearytravelerfreehouse.com is a locals’ favorite decorated with eccentric ob-

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Madison: A Vegan Spree in Dairyland | Robin Tierney jects. Even omnivores crave its Tom Ka Tofu, a spicy coconut lemongrass stew, and the super-rich Rambin’ Vegan’s Chili served with a slab of house-baked vegan cornbread.

Monty’s Blue Plate Diner

www.montysblueplatediner.com has a balmy patio perfect for peoplewatching over a Heathen Vegan Shoplifter’s Delight tempeh sandwich and sassy corn and bean salad. The pies are all vegan and baked fresh daily. Didi calls the sweet potato hash amazing.

Bloom Bake Shop

www.bloombakeshop.com makes heavenly blueberry cupcakes and other vegan treats made with local/ seasonal ingredients. They’re worth pedaling five miles west to charming downtown Middleton.

There are many more. So get travel info from Visit Madison www.visitmadison.com, book a room at the lovely, affordable Dahlmann Campus Inn www.thecampusinn.com -and bookmark the Madison Vegan dining guide www.madisonvegan. com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robin Tierney is a travel, outdoors and food writer who gets her energy from an all plantbased diet. Her whole household is made up of vegan athletes, including their adopted American Pit Bull Terriers. Reach Robin at Travelveg@live.com.

Story and photos by Robin Tierney.

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