VeganAthleteGuide

Tag: Vitamin D

Vegan Meal Plan for Beginners – The Healthy way

Starting to be vegan without knowing the basics that keep you healthy or a wrong mindset can be reasons to quit a vegan diet. To keep that from happening you need a vegan meal plan for beginners that helps you to stay on track.
I won’t focus on giving you meal examples but guidelines you can use to create your own meals with some inspiration from some other sources if you need.

Basics ingredients and guidelines to create a Vegan Meal
You can see the most important foods as well as things to look for in the infographic below.

Have all of the 6 food groups daily in your diet and keep your food variating to make sure to get your nutrients.
At the beginning of your (healthy) vegan journey you should use cronometer.com to keep track of the nutrients you get from your food. Using it a couple of times you will start to know for yourself what to eat to get your nutrient levels.
Dry legumes need to be always soaked before you cook them. This will get rid of the phytic acid that prevents the release of nutrients and also your body from absorbing nutrients.
But phytic acid has some positive effects as well. It acts as an antioxidant and prevents cancer. You can find out more on www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
And about the whole grains. The options you see on the infographic are without gluten. In case you have a gluten intolerance, they are your preferred source. If you don’t have any, I would recommend to use whole spelt over whole wheat. Whole Oats are good too.

Thoughts that make you doubt a Vegan Diet
I won’t get enough Protein. Actually you not only can get enough protein throughout the day but even enough if you exercise and don’t supplement with protein shakes. Legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains are all good sources of protein.
Iron? Not only it will be enough for men but as well for women who need a bit more. If you use my recommended food groups well, you won’t have any mineral deficiency except if you already have some health issues you might not be aware of. That is one reason to not just believe that everything is fine but to make regularly check ups.
There is nothing I can eat. The limitation is only in your head. There are millions of combinations you can have to create a vegan dish. And it is very likely that you can find at least hundred dishes you like, of which you will probably use not more than 20 regularly.
There are no restaurants. There are more and more options for vegans to go out to eat. And this will increase because veganism is growing. And you can be a part of the growth and not only improve your health but also reduce animal abuse and environmental damage caused by factory farming.
Veganism might be unhealthy for long term. Not sure what Dr. Ellsworth Wareham would say to that. This vegan retired as a plastic surgeon at 95. His mind and body stayed sharp like the scalpel he used.
A vegan lifestyle is unhealthy when you don’t know what you do. And depending what drugs you take that you shouldn’t (like birth control pills), or doing other lifestyle mistakes, you set yourself a ground for being unhealthy you might blame your diet for where it is not the diets fault.
Beware that cosmetics with questionable ingredients can cause harm too, like decreasing your thyroid function.

Is Supplementation necessary when having only Vegan Meals?
Using the RDA guideline in cronometer, you will usually have difficulties reaching your recommended calcium needs. But you won’t need as much as shown. 9.4mg per kg will do (~60%). Here is the study for that claim.
Your vitamin D levels can only be sufficient from sunlight no matter what diet (or supplementation in winter when the sun won’t be enough for you).
Vitamin B12 is the only “modern” vegan problem. You can read about my experience testing to go without vitamin B12 supplements.
If you variate and have a sufficient amount of the foods shown in the infographic, you shouldn’t face any malnutrition. Neither in macronutrients like protein nor in micronutrients like iron.

Conclusion

No matter how your individual vegan meal plan will look like, make sure to enjoy what you eat. You can give yourself some treats from time to time. Just keep yourself from being stressed about your diet. Stress can cause more harm than an unhealthy diet.
To stick to a vegan diet as a beginner, you will need a good reason to do so. I will soon link a post about how to stick with a vegan diet.

You probably have some questions. Don’t hesitate to leaf some in the comments section.

See ya
Alex

January 19, 2017
Best Anti Aging Face Cream – Only Natural Ingredients
If you have read the ingredient list on cosmetic products you probably read a lot of ingredients that sound like spaceships. Often these spaceships are made of skin or health damaging compounds that can even make your hormones go roller coast. And that is something you really don’t want, because your hormones play a significant role in your aging process. But is it really necessary to buy an expensive cosmetic product that is putting you in such danger?

The best anti aging face cream doesn’t have to have tons of questionable ingredients. And it can be made by yourself. Below you can see how. Already excited?

The Ingredients

Avocado Oil. Your main ingredient is Avocado Oil. “Huh, running around oily?” you may ask. Actually no. Avocado oil is soaked up in less than 15 minutes by your skin and keeps it moisturized. It has high amounts of the antioxidant Vitamin E.

Your skin will get the following benefits from the Avocado Oil:
- Moisture
- Elasticity
- Anti inflamentory
- Reduces itching
- No acne
- Less wrinkles
- Scar repair
It also seems to protect you a little against UVA rays from the sun, which make your skin cells die faster and make you age. And you should know that glass only protects from the UVB rays that make you tanned, but not from UVA.

You should know that glass only protects from the UVB sun rays that make you tanned, but not from UVA. This man was driving his truck for many years. The one sided sun exposure caused his skin to age significantly compared to the non exposed side. Check out my Vitamin D Post to find out how to protect your skin.

Essential Lavender Oil. This essential oil can be used on every skin type. It has the same effects like avocado oil. Another nice ability is it’s calming effect that can aid to your sleep or raise your mood depending when you use it.

Rosehip Oil. It contains high amounts of Retinol in its plant form called Beta Carotene and also high amounts of Vitamin C. Rosehip Oil is scientifically proven to have age reversing effects. So you should consider to include it if you are over 30. It is especially well known for scar repair and has great ability to keep the skin moisturized as well.

Another benefit is that you can inhale the essential oils for other beneficial effects. So you don’t only get a better facial skin. I have put together a list of the best quality oils for you.

How to use them

I would recommend to use a small glass bottle to make your mixture in it. As base ingredient you use 90% Avocado oil as a carrier oil and 10% of the two essential oils combined. All of the mentioned oils can be applied on your skin without being diluted if desired though. That means the amount of the two essential oils can be higher if you like. But this isn’t applicable for most of the other essential oils.

You can use your new self made face “cream” once in the morning and once in the evening. And that’s not it. The mixture can be used for your hair and scalp as well to promote hair growth and prevent thinning hair.

Keep the essential oils in your fridge, so they don’t lose their effects and get rancid. Especially the Rosehip oil. You can do the same for the avocado oil if you don’t intend to use it for salad dressing or similar.

Before mixing them all together you should try all oils on parts of your forearm skin. In case you might be allergic to one of them.

Don’t expect the oils to work immediately. It can take a few weeks until you see the difference.
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Essential oils can't be patented. That's why they won't get popular with pharmaceutical companies or be recommended as a healthy alternative. This is the reason why they are not well studied. The knowledge about their effects come mainly from years of ancient experience.
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Final words about anti aging

It would be nice if its enough to just put some magical elixier on your face and not to age at all. But I don’t have to tell you that this is not true. You know that a proper diet that enables your body to work properly is one of the main keys for youth. If you want to learn how aging works and what you can do about it, then you might be interested in my eBook. It is free. More information on the side bar.

Remember to return and leave your experience in the comments.

See ya

Alex

Dedicated to Irene
September 23, 2016
What is the Best Vitamin D Supplement? – How much do you really need

To stay healthy during winter time you need to know what is missing when Santa Claus is coming (except the presents). The days are short, the sun is in a lower angle and hits you with fewer rays. And thus you start to suffer from Vitamin D deficiency. “What is the best Vitamin D supplement?” It will be answered when you understand first how much “Hormone D” (Yes it is actually a hormone, if you do not know already) you really need. So that you can stay healthy all year round and keep on exercising.

Vitamin D Dose

Knowing that Vitamin D is actually a Hormone and not a Vitamin leads to the important fact that it needs to be balanced for optimal health. If other hormones like estrogen and progesterone are out of balance in woman for example, it would lead to several health issues (that are most likely treated wrong). So you should better have an optimal level for “Hormone” D.

The Optimal Level looks like in the Chart below. (If you are overweight, I would recommend you to keep the dosage closer to normal weight rates for your size)

I just realized that I need a balcony to write this. This chart is based on the recommendation of Dr. John Cannell who is specialized in Vitamin D. The Chart is showing you the total amount of Vitamin D from supplements or/and sun exposure needed. So if you go out in the Summer regularly, you will need none or little depending on how much you are exposed to the sun. Our ancestors from Africa have been under the sun for the whole day. Today you go into cave offices to earn paper with numbers called money and return to cave houses using your turtle with wheels.

One other thing your body needs “mainly” to process Vitamin D efficiently is magnesium. If you are on a Vegan diet and following a meal plan similar to this one you will have more than enough and don’t have to worry about it. The minimum Magnesium intake daily should be from 600-800 mg depending on your weight.

The Vitamin D hormone is necessary to process calcium in your body. Calcium is what your bones depend on. Back pain from working in the office can actually be a calcium deficiency.

Vitamin D2 or Vitamin D3 Supplementation?

Yes there are two types on the market.

The difference between them is that your body can only absorb up to about 2000 IU with Vitamin D2 because it can’t store it. So if you take more it would be useless.

D3 on the other hand can be stored in your fat cells for several weeks just like Vitamin D from sunlight. That means you can take a very high amount and that will be stored. But you shouldn’t take more than double your recommended IU/day daily for a long period of time to risk intoxication. However, you can take up to 7 times your recommended dose weekly if you like.

So which one to choose? I would recommend the D3 for Winter and outdoor workout in summer. The D3 should not be higher than 1000 IU per capsule for proper dosage, especially if you want to give it to children.

If you are taking medicine, ask your doc for advice before taking Vitamin D supplements.

Vitamin D Supplementation VS Sunlight exposure

For some reason I’m thinking of tanning my big white butt. Well that’s one benefit of sun, it can make you look nice. Might be because it’s an instinctive sign of health to look a bit tanned (like having visibly enough D). That’s on courtship.

Summer sunlight is the natural way your body learned to use for Vitamin D production and will always be the best. No need to look on a chart, just go out and it will be done for you. You might heard you need only 15 minutes of summer sun a day. That’s true for most Swedish maybe, but depending on your skin type it could be up to 8 times as much. The general rule is: You don’t need to turn into a tomato. If you know how much time it roughly takes for you to get red you just divide it into half.

Depending on how long and how much your skin will be baked, you can get 2 to 5 times the IU of Vitamin D you need. And there is no need to panic if overdose. Like mentioned before, your body can handle the sun better than supplements and prevent overdosing. The Winter season is crucial for some Vitamin D supplements though.

And finally sunlight helps your body to produce Coenzyme Q10 by combining with Chlorophyll (plant blood form veggies). [wp-svg-icons icon=”wand” wrap=”i”] This is another pro for the natural source.

Protection of too much sun exposure

Number one product for sun protection: The Shade. 100% Organic, no side effects, free until out of stock. Get it NOW!

Truck driver Bill McElligott is a good example that a car glass can only filter UVB rays but not UVA. The UVA is not burning your skin but is causing it to age faster and can lead to skin cancer. The fairer your skin is, the more you should care about proper sun protection.

I am no fan of chemical Sunscreen and thus don’t recommend it. The ingredients in most sunscreens are more likely to produce skin cancer than the sun itself. In case you will be under longer sun exposure and want to protect your skin from burns, there is one antioxidant called Astaxanthin that helps many people to prevent sunburn.

One other thing you can do to protect yourself from sun damage, is to install a window film on your windows.

In general, darker skin types have higher pigmentation and melanin that protects them more efficiently from UV damage. But damage does still occur.

Something unclear? Share your experience or write your questions down in the comments section.

Cheers

See ya

Alex

September 12, 2016