The meat munching and dairy slurping dilemma (part 2)

I've been meaning to get round to writing this part 2 blog for a while. I am conscious that people may start to regard me as some sort of 'vegan dictator'. I don't want that. It took me a while to recognise that there is so much misinformation out there regarding health and diet. My main aim here is to raise awareness, especially for those who are hoping to avoid a chronic illness, or who have a chronic illness and want to improve their health and for those that want to help make the world a better place. I'm not trying to put down meat eaters, farmers or anyone. I simply want people to be open to the possibility that the choices they may be making could be improved for the sake of themselves, their children and the planet. My worry is that until we are all fully aware enough to make better choices, things will only get worse. By worse I mean, more animals will suffer and be abused, more people will get fatter and sicker and our planet will continue to die.


A few things prompted me to start typing this blog today. The first was a Facebook post from a friend, 'Everyone should see this side to cows'. It shows a side to cows that most will not have seen. Friendly, playful animals. We are not used to images like this. Farm animals playing like domesticated pets. We don't like seeing this...we might need to reconsider our views...that they are more than simply steaks or burgers on legs. The second, was an article about a Texas couple who gave up cattle ranching to become vegans and turned their ranch into a sanctuary. (Click here to see) The part that tugged my heart was when the rancher would take away the calves to slaughter...“The mother cows would cry into the night and I’d go out and cry with them even at midnight.” And finally, a very current issue... fox hunting. This new ad campaign (League Against Cruel Sports- Click to watch ad) has been designed to make you reconsider your views and it is similar in style to this other short movie about adopting new pets (Gift - watch the clip) These links show me that we are growing in awareness regarding these issues. They highlight that we are beginning to see animals as sentient beings...not just slabs of meat. They help us to think beyond our ingrained egocentricity that has brainwashed us into believing that humans are the superior beings. Is it really any different from racism or sexism?


The question of whether animals are sentient or not, is a biggy. It used to crop up on a regular basis when I was studying psychology.  "Are animals sentient beings?",  "Do animals have language?", "Are animals aware?" These questions used to frustrate me so much. The real question should be "Do animals deserve the moral consideration of humans in our egocentric world?" Each of these questions are an essay in themselves, but for the purpose of this blog I'm going with the view that they are sentient; they feel pain, experience pleasure, they have a survival instinct and are aware of their existence. I don't think that we need to put animals through unnecessary torture to prove this. And this blog today will discuss this in some more detail.


As I said earlier, animal welfare wasn't really something I considered beyond my own pets. But a change in my own eating habits gave me permission (or I allowed myself) to watch some videos regarding this issue (The links to these videos are on the sidebar of my blog). Frankly, I was shocked. How did I not know about the barbaric torture and abuse of  animals that is commonplace in this world? I am as 'normal' as the next person, so I have come to understand that the reason for this widespread maltreatment of animals, especially in the intensive factory farming industry and why it goes on without anything being done about it, is because not many people know about it. Those that do know, are ones that tend to take a stand on the issue while the rest of the population continue to dine on, oblivious to how the animal that ended up on their plate was treated before it died for them - perhaps hoping/trusting that the animal was treated humanely first.

It can't be easy working in the animal food industry. In the UK alone, over 22 million animals are slaughtered every day!! Animals are more often than not seem as produce, not living, sentient beings. Cattle are dehorned and branded without anaesthetic, kept in barns with no outdoor exercise and milked until they die an early death. In large pig market factories, sows are kept in gestation crates unable to turn or move to look after their piglets. Tail docking and castration (on piglets) are done without anaesthetic. Pigs are often slaughtered after ineffective stunning or electrocution and put into boiling water still alive.  And chickens, oh how we love to eat those! Over 950 million chickens are killed each year in the UK (source to statistics). In intensive chicken factories, chickens are debeaked which often causes severe injury. Hens are packed tightly into wired, battery cages unable to spread their wings and disease is rife.
Many animals die during transportation to the slaughterhouse due to overcrowding, low/high temperatures or poor handling. The methods used to stun animals before slaughter often do not work and they are conscious when their throats are slit.  In a PETA video (link to PETA video) narrated by Paul McCartney, he is famously quoted as saying "if slaughterhouses had glass walls, everybody would be vegetarian." If you watch the video, you will understand why he said this.
In the UK, there are slaughterhouse regulations which are supposed to be followed and vets are supposed to monitor animal welfare. Sadly though, there has been criticism from the European Commission regarding the lack of this monitoring (source).
Footage of the barbaric leather and fur industries, especially those in China, have me in tears every time I watch. Dogs, cats, foxes, in
fact anything with fur, skinned more often than not, alive. These animals used in this trade are then butchered and fed to the other animals waiting to die for their fur. Beautiful, white Angora rabbits, pinned to boards while their fur is cruelly ripped off their bodies as they scream in terror and pain, then thrown back in their cage for the process to be repeated several more times. Baby seals bludgeoned to death in front of their mothers for their fur... What, I ask, is the real cost of a fur coat?

Then there is the science industry, which uses animals in various (Link to gov figures/report) Animals are cut open, shocked, poisoned, gassed, burned, deprived, neglected and psychologically tortured. They never know a kind word, see the outside world or walk on grass and we do this in the name of scientific advancement, such as the creation of new drugs.
Animal testing is hugely controversial with many arguing that these tests, while some may help to create a beneficial drug, many substances tested will never be used for anything, thus the animal suffers or dies in vain. Also, animal testing is very costly with countless animals killed after testing (even if they recover). But, the main criticism is that animal testing is never fully reliable as humans and animals respond differently to various drugs, which begs the question...why test if comparisons cannot be made?
types of testing.  In the UK, legislation against animal testing has been tightened over the years, partly in response to growing public awareness and concern however,  recent government statistics show that despite pressure to reduce testing, the number of animal experiments continues to increase with 4.12 million procedures carried out in 2013!
I've covered many areas of animal abuse, but there are many more...animals used for entertainment purposes, such as zoos, rodeos, dog fighting, dog and horse racing, circuses and street entertainers. There is also the sickening whaling (Norway, Japan and Iceland) and dolphin trade (Japan)...words quite simply fail me when I watch footage of these beautiful mammals being slaughtered. And the fishing industry, where our seas are overfished and ecosystems are destroyed.

My words won't mean a jot unless you see for yourself the cruelty that exists in our world today. I urge you to take the time and have the courage to watch either 'Earthlings' or 'If Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls.' I personally feel that there is a growing cultural shift where people are becoming more compassionate towards their fellow wo(man), more "green", more consciously aware, who are moving towards vegetarianism and veganism.  The flip side however, is one much darker. I have read recently that there is a rise in animal cruelty (source) In the news too, we read more frequently about child abuse scandals, human rights violations and war. Two groups of people poles apart. Hopefully, those in the middle will shift more to the 'compassionate side.' Time will tell.

When I started my experiment with being vegan it was purely for health reasons. Animal welfare and
saving the planet were secondary to me at that point. I guess I just didn't have the guts to look at these issues. I was frightened of what I would learn...I knew the reality would not bode well to someone such as myself, that considered themselves an animal lover. It is only now, after taking the time to learn about it, I can say I wish I had found this stuff out before now, I would have tried harder to change. I'm still trying hard to keep changing. I eat a vegan diet and I am now moving towards a vegan lifestyle. I have many boots, shoes and bags which are leather. I will continue to use these until they are done as just throwing them out is, in my opinion disrespectful to the animals that died for them. I am also trying to find and purchase vegan beauty products. It is a learning curve which I hope to share with those willing to listen...to shift along with me. Small steps...

The final part (3) of this blog will cover how moving to a vegan lifestyle can save our planet.

The meat munching and dairy slurping dilemma (Part 1)

Dangling a slice of prosciutto into my gob or munching on a bacon roll were two of my favourite past-times, but through time and some research I had learned that the animal products I loved to eat were creating a toxic environment inside my body. My immune system just wasn't able to handle the damage that was being done. For some time before my diagnosis, I had become interested or drawn to healthier eating lifestyles. I had read and researched about vegan, raw and alkaline diets and I was slowly learning that what I had been told...no, educated about our so called healthy and balanced diet was in fact mis-information. Being a nurse for many years, I believed that we need meat for protein and milk/dairy for calcium (when I say meat I am referring to all animal meats e.g. chicken, pork etc). In all the years I practised and did professional development, not one doctor, specialist or dietician told me that humans do not need these animal products to survive (or thrive). Doing my own research, I learned that the truth of the matter is that animal products actually do great damage to our human bodies and the increasing burden on our healthcare services is the direct result of our mis-information regarding the western diet.

Luckily the information I had read, meant that once I was diagnosed with breast cancer I was immediately able  to start putting a new diet into practise. Initially, I veganised my old favourites...spag bol, chicken salad, kormas, etc. Bit by bit, I started experimenting with making different dishes, utilising different spices and putting some effort into ensuring that my store cupboard had all the basic essentials to create any dish...just add veg. Thankfully, I'm quite a good cook (even if I say so myself!) and I enjoy pouring over recipe books. I must admit, I love it. I love it that I am eating healthily and it is effortless. I love it that I feel cleaner, lighter and more energetic. I love it, that my family see the changes I have made and have improved their own diets. There are still some things I miss but like an ex-smoker, as time passes so does the urge.

So what about the mis-information then...
Did you know that the majority of the world's population is lactose intolerant (which is completely normal, we are not biologically designed to continue drinking milk past infancy)? But many populations such as ours, where dairy is consumed as part of our standard diet, have developed a gene mutation which allows for lactose to be consumed past weaning. It is only in cultures such as ours that lactose intolerance is even considered to be a problem. Symptoms such as bloating, gas, diarrhoea/constipation, etc are common in our dairy fixated culture.(Link to symptoms of lactose intolerance)

The common symptoms mentioned above highlight the inflammatory nature of dairy and a study last year by Dr Karl Michaelsson (link to study) showed that high milk intake was associated with higher rates of fractures and death, especially in women. In countries where dairy and animal products are more heavily consumed, we see greater rates of chronic disease such as heart disease (e.g.link to study) and cancer (link to study).


Meat (all meat, including processed/cured and chicken!) can cause cancer and inflammation in (link to study) So you can see why someone such as myself, diagnosed with breast cancer and researching ways to protect myself from reoccurrence would cut out these products. And to be honest, this information is only the tip of the iceberg, I haven't even started discussing how animal foods contribute to the levels of growth hormones in our bodies...i.e. we eat these foods, they cause inflammation and we promote the growth of cancer (and other chronic disease) through these circulating hormones (link to study). There's lots of research, but it is difficult to understand (hmm... I wonder why?) and there is also great deal of research which discusses the nutritional value of animal products (funded by meat and dairy industry!) Plus, there is research regarding hormones which is not made publicly available and is of particular concern (link to study). To highlight these issues I have included this great article that discusses the animal products we eat...(Article link)

Basically, it is no surprise that we are getting fatter and sicker eating our western diet. And to those that stupidly say, what you eat has nothing to do with it, go and do some research! Here is a study about diet to get you started...The lower risk diet is vegan (link to study) but it is important to realise that our bodies are not designed to eat the levels of animal products and refined foods that we pack into it. Also, we get more than adequate levels of protein and calcium (which is absorbed more readily) from vegetables.


What I find fascinating are those doctors/researchers (mainly in the USA) who acknowledge that diet is a (if not the) crucial factor in our poor health equation and are promoting plant-based diets to reverse and cure chronic illness. Dr Dean Ornish is one of those doctors. He has successfully (and proven scientifically) reversed heart disease in his patients through a plant based diet. Many of his patients were considered to be on their 'last legs' by their own cardiovascular consultants, yet made full recovery. He also promotes the same diet to those with prostate and breast cancer with excellent results. There are so many studies to choose from if you want to read the evidence...just Google (scholar) his name. And for some excellent information regarding all things diet and based on published academic papers have at look at Dr Michael Greger's site, it is a fantastic resource (link to his site).

Wonderful D3

How do you feel when you wake up in the morning...blissfully rested or like you have just gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson? I must admit that although I love my two wonderful creations, since they were born, I wake up feeling like a burst couch. Even if I manage to get a long lie on a Sunday, or if I ever get the rare chance to sneak back to bed, although this usually means I have succumbed to some sort of man flu or mysterious illness, I never wake feeling rested. As the years have passed, I have just put this bone-weary fatigue down to 'how one feels passed the age of 40' syndrome and accepted that jumping out of bed in the morning shouting "yay, I'm alive!",  is something I do in my head, not for real. I know I'm not the only one to feel like this. I have had many conversations with friends who all agree that come 10 o'clock in the evening (or earlier), most of us are propping our eyelids open
with matchsticks while the drool runs down the side of our mouths. Oh yes, most of us have had the humiliating picture taken of us with our heads back, mouths open and snoring like Percy Pig while 'watching' TV.  BUT all that is in the past because I have discovered the new wonder drug and it's name...ta, da, is Vitamin D3. Oh yes! I am a new woman!

"So tell me all about it" I hear you shout!  Well, since this whole cancer curfuffle,  tiredness reached new limits for me. I will not be beaten though! Rebuilding my immunity (no thanks to chemo) and strengthening my liver, are key priorities to me... hence the whole vegan diet thing, getting back to exercise and adding a whole array of nutritional supplements. And I was feeling good. I felt happier, stronger, healthier, slimmer and cleaner on the inside, so the changes I was making were definitely helping. But to be honest, I still felt tired. And yes, I do recognise that it takes some time to recover from the Big C (and it's nasty treatments). I am impatient to be jumping out of bed shouting "yay!" Recently however, I was discussing the role of high dose Vitamin C and other supplements with my sister. She said my brother -in- law had been reading about how important Vitamin D was and although I was taking a Vitamin D supplement, I had skipped over articles discussing it when I was researching Vitamin C. Coincidently (or not. I don't believe in coincidences. Rather that, if you are meant to stumble across it, you will), I came across a YouTube video where some U.S. M.D. was discussing the merits of Vitamin D in relation to a myriad of diseases where deficiency is present. I was intrigued...could Vitamin D be that important? Wouldn't we know already?

The reality is that the role of Vitamin D isn't fully understood and research is still ongoing. But hey, I am not waiting 5-10 years on research facilities finally getting round to telling Joe Public...I'm impatient (didn't you know!). So, I've been looking at the current research and yes, it is impressive (and there is plenty!).  First you need to know what Vitamin D is and does, so click on the links below...
What is Vitamin D
What does Vitamin D do?

So, hopefully you have an idea of the importance of Vitamin D. For the majority of us, unless you are jetting off to sunny climes every other weekend, you are going to be deficient. And ironically, when the sun does come out for that one day in Scottish summertime, we are so paranoid that we get skin cancer (because we have the bejeebies scared out of us by the media and sunscreen companies), that we lather sunscreen on before even stepping outside and so deny our desperately, deficient bodies of making that vital D vitamin. Even if you were able to get a good holiday and top up your Vit D levels, come winter, your blood levels will be back in their boots.
The symptoms of vitamin D deficiency may not be apparent but studies have shown that it is linked to depression, bone pain, muscle weakness, hypertension, dementia, hypertension, heart disease and various cancers. It starts to make some sense then why so many people get sick come Autumn/Winter and why those with darker skin are at greater risk (I will put some links to research at the end).
So, it looked like this vitamin was pretty darn good but I don't just pop any drug in my gob without finding about toxicity and side effects (which we all should do even if your GP has prescribed it!!!) The good thing is you have to take mega high doses for a pretty long time to become toxic (I decided on taking the high dose oral spray for convenience).
Apart from sunbathing, the best way to ensure you get an adequate amount of this vitamin is by taking a supplement. So, I did...and I noticed an improvement in my health pretty quickly. The first thing I noticed was an improvement in my mood (and while getting my tax return completed was a call to celebrate,  the only other change was, I had started to take vitamin D). I have also noticed that I'm sleeping better and waking, feeling much more rested than normal. And strangely, the right side of my lower back (which niggles from time to time) has eased considerably. For me, improving my mood and feeling rested are a huge bonus.
The other bonus that I'm hoping to achieve is avoiding cancer recurrence, osteoporosis (these two are pretty important for someone such as myself) and other chronic disease, such as Alzheimer's and according to research, vitamin D plays a huge role in that (again, see links at end). My suggestion to you all is get yourself some high dose Vit D (D3 is better) and try it for yourself...maybe we can all start jumping out of bed in the morning shouting "yay!"

Here are the links:-

Vitamin D and it's role in cancer prevention

Vitamin D in health and disease - current perspectives

Vitamin D in adult health and disease: a review and guideline statement from Osteoporosis Canada

Vitamin D3 enhances mood in healthy subjects during winter

and there are so many more...just have a look in google scholar....happy reading!

Furious!

While skimming through the posts on FB today I came across this one from Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity  http://www.breakthrough.org.uk/blog/broccoli-and-cancer-whats-story and I must admit I felt furious! They were basically saying that there is no evidence that broccoli can fight cancer. They said "the real story here is that a chemical found in broccoli has been used to develop drug molecule which plans to be tested on cancer patients".  They then said that this chemical, which by the way is sulforaphane, in it's natural form has been shown to kill cancer cells in lab experiments. Well natural form, to me, would be in cruciferous vegetables i.e. broccoli. But the part that really threw me over the edge was "so yes, a chemical which happens to be found in broccoli has the potential to treat cancer, but eating the stuff probably won't do anything".  Can you believe it! They may as well have said just continue eating your unhealthy diets as eating healthy vegetables won't do anything for you (eating broccoli raw, juicing it or chopping it up half an hour before cooking, will help you to get all the benefits of the vegetable). I know I may have simplified their article as they were discussing the instability of the chemical, but as I said above there are ways round this.

This to me is all that is wrong in the world today. While we see cancer, obesity, heart disease and diabetes hit epidemic levels we are given incorrect nutritional advise from those that are out to make a quick buck from our chronic ill health. The meat and dairy institutions along with other large corporations ensure that their interests are protected by sitting on nutritional advisory boards. Big pharma and many cancer charities work alongside each other to tell us a miracle drug is just around the corner. You are told, just keep doing what you are doing, there is a drug on the way to sort it for you! We are kept ignorant in our ill health by the lies fed to us on a daily basis.

There is PLENTY of scientific evidence out there to indicate that eating a wholefoods, plant based diet will suspend, reverse and in many cases, cure the top diseases that have become reached epidemic proportions in today's Western society. WE, YOU, US need to reclaim our own power. Do some research yourself into your diet and if you have one, your disease. Let us stop waiting on our doctors telling us what to do as few of them are educated in correct nutritional practises for optimum health. Let us stop waiting on big pharma coming up with that miracle drug..it is just not profitable for them. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWwZ4VKLQZk

Uprooting the leading causes of death

The Broccoli Receptor

and this is what US medical staff think about their nutritional education

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADlY8CYllhU&index=37&list=PLEHzczjouSWv2ku-5wnJYsn4KS1WjDRSN

Happy New Beginnings

How do you view Hogmanay and New Year? Do you celebrate loudly with friends, or just a quiet night with your loved one or maybe you shut up shop and go to bed early?  Normally, we tend to have quiet affair for Hogmanay and have a family get together on New Year's Day. This Hogmanay we are having some friends over for a quiet celebration just before the bells and as usual, a get-together tomorrow with my sis, which we love.

This year as I raise my glass to see out the old and bring in the new, I will quietly be thinking about this past year. Many people have said I will be glad to get it behind me and while I am glad to have the treatment over, I am grateful for the lessons that this 'blip' has taught me. The silver lining behind my very large black cloud has always been there. I am grateful to be healthy and well and grateful for my wonderful family and their love. I will never again take good health, good friends and happiness for granted again. Things can change in the blink of an eye. The recent tragedy in George Square shows us this quite clearly. 

I love the changes that I have made in my life as a result of this breast cancer. For some time I wanted  to make dietary changes. For some time I wanted to be less stressed about the not so important details of life. For some time I wanted to find a direction in life. And as hard as it was, breast cancer has given me those things. 

As a nurse I used to work in many different specialities and daily I came across people that were sick or depressed or both about their health and lives. I used to try to advise them, but so many people refused to make their health their business. One day in a high dependency cardiac unit, the charge nurse told me that many people refuse to make changes in their life until they have had 2 or 3 heart attacks and often it is too late and the damage has been done. How sad. How sad that we choose to ignore the things that are screaming out to us to fix until it is too late.

I  blog about these things in the hope and wish that other people don't wait to make positive changes in their lives until they are faced with a diagnosis such as mine. I ignored my messages until they hit me square on. I didn't believe it could happen to me. 

New Year is a wonderful time. Fresh starts and new beginnings abound. Let's do some affirmations to create the lives we want and deserve. Let's not forget about others along the way. Let's stop focussing on the negatives and boost the positives. Let's get committed to helping ourselves and others reclaim happiness. Let's make health a normal part of our lives. Let's evolve our awareness and consciousness to higher levels. Let's not accept corporate greed as a way of life. Let's take out the garbage and make room for new growth. Let's take our dreams and make them a reality. Let's live in the now and forget about the past and the future will take care of itself.  Let's create a better world for our children.

I'm raising my glass to a wonderful 2015 and continuing to make lots of positive changes. Happy New Year!

And so this is Christmas...

Blissful ignorance last year!

The Christmas movie is on...we are singing along to the yuletide tunes. It is your typical memory inducing pre-Christmas lazy weekend. As I put up the Christmas tree with the children, I think about my blissful ignorance of the fact that my breast cancer was at this time last year, undiscovered. I had, had the BRCA gene test and was awaiting its results. I felt pretty confident that all would be fine. My Facebook timeline and pictures show my confident disregard for what would unfold. 

If you can't have a laugh at yourself...

Sometimes, when I look back I feel sad for what I have lost. I guess it is a similar feeling for those that look at old pictures to people who have passed away and feel sad that they won't be able to recreate those same feelings of good, old, happy carefree times. My feelings swing from happy to be alive to sad for past carefree times. I'm almost bipolar! Along with my hair and some body parts, I've lost a wee part of the old me. Maybe this is the silver lining. That old me was always grumbling about some ridiculous nothing or another. The new me sports a 'See You Jimmy' hair-do and more of an indifferent attitude. This is definitely a good thing...no not the 'See You Jimmy' part, that is a hair-do unto itself which will tame itself eventually! No, the indifferent part. I always wanted to be more indifferent to the small insignificant annoyances that scratch through most people's minds on a daily basis. I'm not so caught up in being annoyed about less trivial matters and I'm more grateful to the basics of life that we tend to overlook...still breathing being one of them!

Yip! it has been some year. It's time to shake off the old, put my Christmas head on and start thinking about the new...

Happy Eating!

Some people have asked me for a blog about being a vegan...so here it is. 

There's lot's to know, not just about veganism but more importantly, why move away from animal products, so I usually suggest to my friends to google and read about it first before drawing any conclusions. 

Now that I eat a vegan diet, I regularly get asked what I eat. In fact, many people do not know what a vegan is. A vegan is someone who does not eat any animal products. Some vegans choose to go further than just diet, restricting wearing clothes and shoes that have been made from animals, or cosmetics that have been tested on animals. 

Before my diagnosis, I had already been reading about vegan, raw and acid/alkaline diets so I already knew about the health benefits. (Please note though, some people can claim to eat a vegan or vegetarian diet without a vegetable ever passing their lips...and no, this is not healthy! A whole foods, plant based diet is what I eat and is what the WHO claim to be excellent for your health and the environment.) So, it was a very easy decision once diagnosed to make the switch to being vegan. I make all of my meals from scratch. It is easy to do and it means I can be completely sure that no animal products have sneaked into my meal. You would be surprised at just how many shop bought vegetable sauces, etc, have milk in them. In fact, have a look in your cupboards and fridges at the ingredient labels, especially those that you would not expect any dairy to be lurking...it's in everything. Not good for those with intolerances, skin, asthma or other inflammatory conditions.

Garlicky mushrooms with cannellini beans
and spinach

So here is a very small selection of what I love to eat;

Vegetable and rice noodle stir fries

Vegetable curry..one fav is sweet potato and spinach

Minestrone soup full of chunky veg including potatoes and beans

In fact any veg soup; carrot and coriander or spicy butternut squash especially!

vegemince chilli

vegemince spag bol

Mina's Minestrone Soup

salad and marinated tofu with roast potatoes

marinated artichokes, peppers and rice

The list goes on, I won't bore you further! 

I like to choose my favourite dishes and veganise them! 

I am also experimenting with vegan baking. I love chocolate cake, so here is the recipe (as I have promised some friends I would add it). It is a really moist cake and very quick to make. My kids love it!

Oven at 175 degrees Celsius

Vegan Chocolate Cake

I use a lined or greased loaf tin

210g plain flour

200g caster sugar

35g good quality 100% cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

Half teaspoon salt

Sift together in a large bowl

then add

225ml water

75mls of vegetable oil or you can use 75g vegetable spread (I use soya Pure)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar (or white vinegar, but the balsamic complements the chocolate)

Mix together to combine all ingredients.

Pour mixture into pan and bake for 45mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

Veganise your favourite buttercream using icing sugar and vegan margarine (I use Pure) to top, or serve warm with dairy free custard, or your favourite jam. Yum! 

If you fancy eating more healthier, especially after over eating during the festive period, why don't you do some reading around the subject of a whole foods, plant based diet. Have a look at the health benefits you can expect. It is particularly beneficial for those looking to lose weight in a healthy, gradual manner. It can reverse high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease and protect against many cancers.

In a society where obesity, ill health and cancer are becoming epidemic we need to look at how we can take responsibility for our own health rather than expecting our doctors to simply dish out the drugs...it is no way to live.

One of my Facebook friends has just shared this excellent web site about giving veganism a go in January... have a look, the recipes are brilliant. Or, just ease yourself into it by having an animal free day, once a week. (p.s. you don't need to register to have a look at the recipes, etc)

Veganuary

Happy Eating!