Going vegan......old style?!

Joyful25

greenbee wrote: »

I haven't stopped looking forward to going to work (although I do get stressed in advance of some of the meetings, but generally feel good about it afterwards), and I like the people (well most of them :rolleyes: ) that I work with, particularly the ones that work for me, who I recruited and have developed over the last few years. It's just the whole work-life balance thing that's the problem - I don't have a family, so it's not impacting on them, but if I carry on working like this I can't see myself having one And it's a nice (reasonably) secure job in a company that is unlikely to be impacted significantly by the recession.

I wish had the answers I'm married but don't plan on having children, so I think I've found the balance somewhere along the line (have a stressful job some days, but work hard not to go over my hours, for example) but I think should I have kids in the future (adoption most likely) I would probably not give work a second thought.

My colleague has an 18-month-old and works just under 29 hours a week. There's been times she wish she didn't work; I can't really understand the situation, but I think she copes better when her job is organised, and she turns her mobile off when she gets h ome....

I would say don't be too hard on yourself - easier said than done sometimes, I know, but it'll happen if it's meant to.

BTW is it me or have we lost our twinkle_star? Where art thou?!

Doom_and_Gloom

Justamum wrote: »

Even meat-eaters can be B12 deficient if they lack intrinsic factor in their digestive system. In fact this is the main reason for B12 deficiency in anyone. However it is sensible to ensure you have B12 in your food or a supplement.

Yes I realise that. It's why I said it is seen as a problem. Really vegetarians and vegans are no more likely to be deficient in it and if they are the food they eat as you rightly point out is not the only reason. I believe I stated about B12 long ago in this thread but I'm not sure where.

andrina_nightshade

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

That’s strange because almost all enzymes contained in food are proteins. Although yes acid in the stomach does denature most of the enzymes in foods (around 90%) what is able to get passed (around 10%) is able to be used by the body, although scientists are still determining what this use is they do believe that it could be a help in aiding digestion.

Proteins are broken down into amino acid subunits by digestive enzymes (chymotrypsin, trypsin, etc). I wouldn't imagine any proteins would survive for too long in the stomach, as these enzymes are so potent they digest themselves. It's the amino acids which are then absorbed by the body. If an enzyme is denatured, it's only the 3D shape of the enzyme that is altered. The order of amino acids, etc in the protein is totally unaffected.

Sorry for the early morning chemistry letcute.

Justamum

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

Yes I realise that. It's why I said it is seen as a problem. Really vegetarians and vegans are no more likely to be deficient in it and if they are the food they eat as you rightly point out is not the only reason. I believe I stated about B12 long ago in this thread but I'm not sure where.

There was a discussion about this earlier in the thread. I think sometimes people who become vegan can get a bit panicky about B12 - and when you have meat-eaters telling them they are doomed because they aren't getting all their nutrients ("where do you get your vitamins from?" :rolleyes:) it's always good for people to know that it is actually easily obtainable.

My DH used to work with someone who had to have regular B12 infusions because he lacked intrinsic factor, and tried to equate his condition with a vegan diet, and said that it was impossible to be healthy as a vegan because of it!

kafkathecat

My DH used to work with someone who had to have regular B12 infusions because he lacked intrinsic factor, and tried to equate his condition with a vegan diet, and said that it was impossible to be healthy as a vegan because of it![/quote]

This is true but I also know a long term vegetarian who became a raw food vegan and after a couple of years had to take b12 supplements. They did not need injections as the cause of their deficiency was their diet. You can store up to 4 years worth of b12 in your body so any dietary deficiency will take a while to become apparent. This is less likely to be a problem for cooked food vegans as many vegan foods eg soya milks have b12 added.

Justamum

kafkathecat wrote: »

This is true but I also know a long term vegetarian who became a raw food vegan and after a couple of years had to take b12 supplements. They did not need injections as the cause of their deficiency was their diet. You can store up to 4 years worth of b12 in your body so any dietary deficiency will take a while to become apparent. This is less likely to be a problem for cooked food vegans as many vegan foods eg soya milks have b12 added.

To be honest a raw food diet really doesn't appeal to me - I think I'd die of hunger from jaw ache from chewing so much!

suep

Does any other vegans who have to cook for the omnivores in their family ever get tempted ? Im not talking about meat or its by products as the thought of it makes me feel ill, but today my son and granddaughter came round for dinner and I took a chocolate cheesecake out of the freezer for them as an emergency pudding, I got a bit of the chocolate on my finger and was almost tempted to lick it, it looked so nice, I forced myself to wash my hands though and had a slice of my vegan chocolate cake, but its happened a few times mainly with chocolate and cheese and usually only when Im tired and feeling a bit grotty.
Im not going to buy anything like that again and when they come round next week I'll have a nice vegan fruit crumble with soya custard or something similar that we can all enjoy. I just feel a bit guilty for being almost tempted like that. I had to remind myself what it was made off and how it was made, that did put me off quickly enough. I just wondered if things like that are normal and if anyone else has had a moment like that ?

sparklewing

So tempted Sue, definitely not just you. There were 24 bags of cheese and onion crisps in the cupboard from various multipacks (I was the only person who ate them before becoming vegan) I had to get Mr S to take them to his mums house cos it was only a matter of time before I cracked. I miss cheese and onion crisps more than anything else in the world. Stupid crisps companies and their stupid milk powder.

kafkathecat

Justamum wrote: »

To be honest a raw food diet really doesn't appeal to me - I think I'd die of hunger from jaw ache from chewing so much!

No, nor me. A life without split pea soup would be dull indeed!

Split pea and swede soup

a cup or more of split peas (preferably soaked)
a swede
1 onion
garlic to taste
2 - 3 potatoes
vegan bouillon (or a stock cube)

Fry the onion, swede, peas and garlic. Pour on water or any leftover veg. cooking water. Boil then simmer until the peas are nearly soft (up to an hour). Add the potatoes and bouillon. cook until the potatoes arre done then mash with a potato masher.
This tastes better than I expected and I can eat whole vats of it.

Justamum

suep wrote: »

Does any other vegans who have to cook for the omnivores in their family ever get tempted ?

I told my DH (then boyfriend) that if he wanted to eat meat he would have to cook it himself, so he became vegetarian! My children have been brought up vegetarian. I'm slowly working on them being vegan - cheese is the biggie for them! (vegan cheese is pretty yuck unless heavily disguised!)

kafkathecat wrote: »

Split pea and swede soup

Ooh, this sounds lovely! A good way of hiding swedes, which my DH hates and I love!!!