Kathryn

Since some university study showed that there is no cobalt in the soil of conventionally grown foods, but there is in organically grown foods, then it may be possible that there is B12 in organic foods. (Victoria Boutenko references the study in her book "Green for life" : www.rawfamily.com ). Still, unless and until someone proves this is true (and unless and until I eat 100% organic) , I'll stick with a supplement to make sure.

Robert, I went high-raw for part of the summer with some days all-raw. I got into it gradually, just substituting more raw foods for cooked (for my snacks, I would eat fruit or Lara bars, for example, instead of something cooked, and I made sure to start each meal with something raw). Then, I did several days of ' raw until dinner,' and stayed with that for a couple of weeks, with some all-raw days. Just one way to approach it.

Absolutely! The chest/front shoulder are often tighter anyway, because we spend a lot of time sitting, bending forward, pushing in our daily lives (vs. pulling---unless you row boats a lot, or saw wood a lot, you are already gettting more chest than back in your daily activities.) The chest/back imbalance is very common in those who work out in gyms, and work their 'mirror' muscles (chest, front shoulder, biceps) more than the back muscles. I'd start by doing a bit more back than chest work (maybe 2-3 more exercises for back than chest), then once things have balanced out, moving to just doing 1 more exercise for back than chest. It's also important to work the rear shoulders (often neglected, while front shoulders are often overworked, because they are also worked during chest presses) to prevent/correct shoulder muscle imbalance that can lead to rotator cuff problems.

This site gives directions for a lot of resistance training exercises: http://www.exrx.net/Exercise.html For 'core' work (rather than just 'ab" work), planks of all kinds work well. For a beginner version, get on elbows (forearm on floor) with knees on floor and hold as long as you can, with core braced. Then move to toes on floor. Then move to lifting one foot off the floor at a time. You can also do side planks, with weight on your forearm. Functional fitness moves use the core by transferring energy from the lower body to the upper body. For example, a 'wood chop" move, done while standing, holding a medicine ball. Hold the ball above you to the right, then twist to the left while lunging down and moving the ball to the lower left (easier shown than described!). For a real core workout, the DVD "Core Synergistics," which is part of the P90 X (Power 90 Extreme) exercise program by www.beachbody.com , is excellent.

I just noticed that the "plain" flavor Vega has 17 servings per container, while the chocolate and berry each have 15 servings (for the same amount of protein). Not a big difference, but you could save a good amount per serving over the course of a year by buying the plain.

Any sources on that? I've read a lot on B12 and veganism, and have never heard this.

If you have a food processor, you can make your own spreads and control the amount of oil. I throw some red onion and garlic in, dice it up, add a drained and rinsed can of garbanzos, some seasoning (salt, sometimes poultry seasoning and nutritional yeast) and process it up. No oil added. Also, black beans with onion, garlic and tomato (try dried tomatoes, soaked for an hour) with mexican spices is a good one.

Since B12 comes from bacteria, as I understand it, the B12 from plants wasn't actually IN the plants, but ON the plants, which were not washed as thoroughly as they are these days (unless you can show me some scientific data to the contrary) and in the water of streams that people drank from. If the soil didn't contain cobalt, the B12-producing bacteria couldn't be formed (and studies comparing nutrient content of organic vs.conventional produce have shown that there is no cobalt in the soil of conventionally grown produce, while organic soil contains it).

YOu may not have taken a supplement, but did you drink soy or rice milk? They usually are supplemented with B12, as are many meat analogs.

My cats were quite amused by this.

Here is just one source I found discussing the intelligence of honey bees: http://www.setiai.com/archives/000066.html But since we can't read minds and know 100% what bees are thinking or experiencing, why not just give them the benefit of the doubt as living creatures?

Even people who don't care that much about animals should see how cruel and sadistic this is. I remember when Jeffrey Dahlmer was finally arrested and convicted, and his cruelty to animals was revealed, there were actually ads on TV that talked about the link between animal cruelty and what most people see as 'more serious' cruelty to humans. That might be a point that some can bring up in their messages.

I hate machine cardio (I've had several cardio machines, but they end up being dust collectors): way too boring for me. I do all my cardio at home: step, kickboxing, hi-lo, rebounding (those "mini trampolines"). There are hundreds of good workouts on DVD, for those of you with that inclination. If you're interested, you can check out some clips at www.collagevideo.com and see what appeals to you.

Make sure, if you're using the pulp, to wash the produce well before juicing, and only use the pulp from organic produce. Some say that most of the pesticide residue remains in the fiber/pulp of the plants. Otherwise, you can always add the pulp directly to your garden soil: work it in a bit under the surface, and it will be a natural compost (and it's not technically going 'to waste' if you use it to feed the earthworms!)

Robert, do you know when Brendan's recipe book is coming out? In "Thrive," it says it's due out in 2006.

Acne is also affected by hormones in some cases.

Sorry, I don't remember any specifics, just the change when soy was finally found to be 'complete' accordiing to the research standards (Ie: will this protein source alone promote growth, and over generations?) I wonder if the scientists doing this started with a preconceived notion of what would be the best protein sources (milk and eggs?) and went from there, or if they just decided to test various groups of rats with various types of proteins and see what worked, then determine from there what the protein requirements of humans really were (not too smart, as they later found out, when someone finally figured out that humans and rats aren't the same). I don't even remember readiing one particular article or book about it, just little bits and pieces here and there. (So much for being the "long-term vegan memory" of the site!) I wonder if a web search for "complete protein study" or "human protein requirements" or something to that effect would come up with anything useful?

Durian tastes like doodoo...there isn't another vegan food I hate more...and the places I've traveled have let me taste some of the worlds best durian which still isn't so hot I've never tried durian, but I've read that it taste like custard, but smells pretty aweful (like feet? or just something rotten?) Kind of makes you wonder whoever decided to try it first (since it doesn't look very appealing, all spikey and ugly, and smells bad).

Everthing, vitamins, protein, carbs and so on. Especially bananas and apples. Here's a web site someone posted on another thread. It gives the nutrtional breakdown of a lot of foods: http://www.nutritiondata.com/

Collard greens make a nice wrap. Marinate some sliced onion and mushrooms in some soy sauce (Nama Shoyu is best), then drain and wrap them in collard leaves along with some avocado, grated carrots, slices cucumber. Very yummy!

Almond milk: Soak almonds for 2 hours or more (up to , drain (the dark tint in the water is from antinutrients that inhibit enzymes), put 1 part almonds to 1-2 parts water in a blender (along with some dates for sweetening if you like) , blend, then strain. The more water-to-almonds, the lighter the 'milk,' the less water, the thicker. You can also make sesame or sunflower 'milk' (soak for the shorter time), or a combo. You can even make hemp milk (hulled hemp seeds and water).

You can't actually sprout nuts the way you do grains and beans. Instead, you soak them (6-8 hours, basically overnight, for the harder ones, like almonds, 4-6 hours for others), then drain and dry (or dehydrate). The soaking starts the germination process, removes antinutrients, and make the fats and proteins more digestible. You can also soak seeds to increase their nutritional value, and even sprout some, but sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds start to turn bitter if sprouted too long (after a day). YOu can also soak and germinate buckwheat (www.sunorganic.com offers sproutable buckwheat, oats and other grains that are often hard to find in a sproutable version), soaking it for only 15 minutes (otherwise it gets slimy) then rinsing every hour for 4 hours, and letting it germinate for a day. Dehydrate, and use like 'Grape Nuts" cereal Many grains, like wheat, spelt, kamut, quinoa, etc. are sproutable as well.

I tried several hemp protein powders before finding one I liked. I don't know why there is a difference in taste, but Nutiva tastes the best, IMO. They have protein powder, hemp 'nuts" (good sprinkled on salads) and smoothie mixes (lower in hemp, with added sugar, but also added things like açai and maca). You can order directly from www.nutiva.com , and orders over $30 (I think) are free shipping. I always mix the hemp protein powder in with frozen fruits and/or juice. I suggest you take the stuff you have, and add it to a brownie recipe (maybe substituting some flour with hemp, but not too much). The chocolate will help hide the flavor, and the powder won't be going to waste. Then pick up some nutiva to add to smoothies.

Probably because many of us haven't tried it, or can't find it locally.

Cherries, strawberries, raspberries, watermelon.