Where do animal rights, environmental concern, feminism, and desire to be healthy come together?

Veganism.  (not consuming animal products:  meat, dairy, eggs, honey)

What you eat makes a strong statement about what you believe.

Animal rights activists would be vegan because we believe that animals do not exist to be or provide food for us.

Feminists should be vegan because it is wrong to exploit female animals (cows and chickens).  It is specieist (discriminating against non-human animals) to only be concerned with human females.  This is a combination of animal rights and feminism of course.

Only animal products have cholesterol.  So if you are only eating plant products, then the only cholesterol to worry about is what the body produces naturally. 

Environmentalist should also be vegan (or at very least consume only organically grown products).  This is one area my family is trying to improve on.  It is good to recycle, but reduce comes first.  Therefore we must consume less processed and packaged products.

I think that a vegan diet is the best way to put those four beliefs into action. 

1.  Tofu

2.  Fortified Drinks

a. orange juice

The problem with fruit juice is that it’s loaded with eight teaspoons of a relatively simple carbohydrate - fructose. Fruit juices are processed foods which are far too concentrated for us. If you have ever squeezed your own juice before, you know how many oranges it takes to create one glass of the fruit. So by drinking that 8-10 ounce glass of juice, you are eating the equivalent of many pieces of fruit with their inherent sugars, but without the fiber to slow down absorption! An 8-oz glass of orange juice has 120 calories and 0 g of fiber; an orange has only 60 calories and 3 g of fiber.

Read the rest here:

http://healthinmotion.wordpress.com/2007/07/09/is-cacium-fortified-orange-juice-really-good-for-you/

b.  Soy “milk”

3.  Leafy greens

4.  Dairy products (bad source)

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is the major cause of bone fractures in the elderly. One in four British women are affected by this disease. It is better prevented than treated and prevention includes an adequate intake of calcium throughout life, but especially in childhood and young adulthood; and minimising major risk factors e.g. smoking, heavy alcohol use and lack of physical exercise. Diets high in protein and in salt (sodium chloride) also increase calcium loss from the body and may have an effect on osteoporosis. Post-menopausal women are more prone to osteoporosis because they produce less oestrogen, which protects the skeleton in younger women.

There has been much publicity about the role of dietary calcium in preventing osteoporosis but the fact remains that it is more common in Westernised countries where calcium intakes and consumption of dairy products are high compared to the rest of the world. Osteoporosis is comparatively rare in rural subsistence cultures, even though calcium intakes are much lower. Lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, lower protein intakes, little alcohol consumption and the rarity of smoking, may offer protection to people in these populations.

Read more here:

http://www.vegansociety.com/food/nutrition/calcium.php

Is it really necessary for adult humans?

All female mammals produce milk for their young.  Human babies drink human milk.  Calves drink cows’ milk.  Kittens drink cats’ milk.  So why do humans drink cows’ milk (and in other cultures sheeps’, goats’, camals’ so on)?

The dairy industry claims that milk helps build strong bones, helps you lose weight, is a good source of vitamin D and so on.  I wonder why they would claim that about a product they are selling.

Consuming dairy products does not prevent osteoporosis.

“The myth that osteoporosis is caused by calcium deficiency was created to sell dairy products and calcium supplements. There’s no truth to it. American women are among the biggest consumers of calcium in the world, and they still have one of the highest levels of osteoporosis in the world. And eating even more dairy products and calcium supplements is not going to change that fact.
–Dr. John McDougall
The McDougall Program for Women (2000)

Go to this website to read the whole article:

http://www.notmilk.com/calbones.html

However if you must drink the “white poison” then at least drink organically produced milk and check out:

http://www.cowsunite.org

I am trying to convince Anya, my mom, that she should vote.  It seems that Cynthia McKinney, the Green candidate will likely be on our ballot.  I know that she has no chance to win, but I don’t think Barack Obama has much chance either.  Check out this website:

http://www.gp.org/

I, however, have decided to throw away my vote on Gloria LaRiva even though she will not be on our ballot (write in).  She is the candidate for the Party for Socialism and Liberation.  She believes we need to get out of Iraq stat and pay the Iraqis reperations.  Of course I don’t agree with her stand on the “Palestinians”.    Check out this website to find out more:

http://www.pslweb.org/

We took the tabby trio to the vet today to be “altered”.  Poor Baikal cried the whole way there.  We adopted these three on 27 June this year.  Their names are Baikal (like Lake Baikal in Siberia), Kutskaya (from Irkutsk in Siberia), and Katya.  The vet is very busy today so they might have to stay overnight.  I miss them.  They sleep in my room at night.  Of course I won’t miss Kutskaya attacking my feet!