bighead

did you know that garbanzo beans can cause sharp drops in insulin levels? it sucks because i love hummus, but garbanzo beans/chickpeas cause your blood sugar to do strange things. i've read numerous times that they can severely inhibit your energy levels.

in fact, cow's milk has never been a traditional part of the east asian diet. many asians form china, korea, japan and surrounding islands who move to the united states find it hard to adjust to eating dairy. did you know that the overbearing amount of hard to digest protein in cow's milk causes the intestines to work so hard they don't get a chance to absorb the calcium from the milk? so the whole "drink milk for calcium" campaign was bs advertising. did you that the average 8 oz glass of cow's milk contains 100+ puss cells and .25-.75 oz of cow's blood? ask any dairy farmer and he/she will tell you that the blood and puss are natural effects of the commercial milking machines. did you know that the majority of native americans (indigenous north americans) lack the proper enzymes to digest cow's milk? it's a genetic truth that people who are native know. i'm part cherokee and i know it. it gives lots of them diarhea. so cow's milk sucks ass. and don't get me started on cheese.

is this still the straight edge post? it looks more like the beer-hating post. i'm irish, so i'm going to have to tell you all that beer tastes bad but ales and stouts taste good. in ireland, they give Guinness and other dark stouts to people in the hospital because they are so high in iron. they used to many years ago, recommend it for pregnant women...that is, until they figured out that that wasn't the greatest idea in the world. (irish saying: god created whiskey to keep the irish from ruling the world) anyhow...i think i qualify as straight edge. but i don't like labeling myself. and straight edge sounds kind of goofy to me. plus everyone i know who's straight edge is solid punk or hardcore. i listen to quieter stuff usually. and large numbers of straight edgers get tattoos with thing like "straight edge." that seems like some kind of gang or cult or something. to actually put the label physically on your body. i don't know. and also, with the promiscuous sex...i never really thought straight edge meant that part of it as remaining a virgin. just not sleeping around. cuz remaining a virgin until marriage automatically makes it a judo-christian-islamic thing. and i wasn't aware that straight edge was connected to religion. i don't want to start a religious discussion on here, but that is just the way it looks to me as a secular person. i don't drink, smoke, do "drugs," or sleep around with every girl i get the chance with. and i include all prescription and over the counter drugs in that term "drugs." do straight edgers do that or just "recreational" drugs? i also eat about 80% of my diet organic. i do all of these things because i want to keep my body clean and live for a very long time, not to be a part of some group or "youth movement." so i guess straight is prehaps just too conformist for me. which is maybe a little ironic considering it's meant to be a subculture or counter culture i mean no offense to any of you who classify yourselves as straight edge. i'm just stating my case and how i've always felt about it.

when i was a little kid, i called myself a fruititarian. and i actually was, except that i ate carrots. basically, fruititarians only eat plant that they don't have to kill. so carrots are out. but most tree fruits, beans, lefumes, certain greens, etc. I think if the plant just dies, like when grains go to seed and fall over, it's okay to eat. But I'm not sure. I know there are two camps. Those that only eat raw things they could harvest without killing the plant and those that will cook the stuff after they harvested it. So I think that would make tofu okay. But maybe not. IT's not a well defined food culture, as far as I know. I mean, I understand where they got the idea that they shouldn't kill anything. But it's actually impossible to not be killing some kind of organism on a daily or even hourly basis. You own body will kill bacteria without you telling it to. So this whole notion that you could just not kill anything you eat... I hope that explains it a little. There's a funny scene in Notting Hill in which Hugh Grant's friends try to hook him up with a fruititarian. She explains her diet in there, although it's played for comedy.

"out here" where? Where are you from? Your profile doesn't say. Do you mean here in LA? If so, then hell yeah. I can tell you at least a dozen great restaurants and another dozen good restaurants that are vegan or vegetarian. Let's see here...the acting questions. I finished my BA in Theater, Film and Television from UCLA in December. I mostly want to act in, produce, write and direct film. But the acting is my primary goal right now. I like all kinds of roles. If comedy is written well, it's good. Anything with good characters. And, yeah Robert. If you (or anyone else for that matter) have acting questions just pm me and I'll see if I can help.

Not all glue. And since I was never the type to eat glue, I never really learned which is good and which isn't. I'm sure a google search can yield the answer, though.

NICE! A Dr. Stranglove reference is worth 50 bonus points!

I am so doing this. Nat, you'd better really give it your all if you want to stand a chance, because I'm a mean essay writer! Grrrr...

Actually, Nat is right. Sexual activity produces a lot of testosterone. Especially at the moment of climax. There is major debate in the sport coaching community as to how this helps physical activity. Some caoches still adhere to the "save your fluids" line, believing that the act of ejaculation takes a lot of vital energy away from the athlete. But there is a growing movement that says sex, or at least masturbation, prior to the game will give a sharp spike to testosterone levels and, therefore, increase performance. As for higher levels for lifting, I suggest you experiment on your own. Remain a virgin if you want, but perhaps try ('scuse me for being crude) blowing a load prior to your workout. You may also try blowing one off right after the workout instead. The thought is, you might be able to lift more by ejaculating beforehand. But others say it's better to climax after working out and bath the muscle tissues in testosterone and other hormones when they are in recovery mode. Honestly, I don't really do either of these, but my high school football and basketball coaches both preached this stuff. SO, try it if you want. It definitely does boost testosterone levels. Whether this method is what you want is a different question entirely.

Pilates has an exercise that is designed for posture. It really helps those of us who sit in cars a lot, or those who sit in front of a computer or tv all day. Sit flat on the floor. Try to put your legs out in front of you flat on the floor, legs together. Try to sit with your back totally straight, trying to make a 90 degree angle with your body. This part will be hard for some people (more guys than gals) who are less flexible. If you find that you have trouble sitting straight up, then bend your knees a little until you can do it. Now, sitting in that position, hold your arms straight out to either side, level with your shoulders. Take a big deep breath. Now make almost a 90 degree turn to the left and hold it for a good long exhalation. Remember to remain sitting up straight. Picture your back tied to a board. Now move back to center. Take another deep breath. Now make the same turn to the right and hold it for the same length of time. Come back to center. Repeat this for 8-10 times and if you have less than stellar posture, you will really start to feel the burn in your upper back. There are lots of exercises such as this for posture. I hope this one works for you.

no. just a certified genius.

So I've been on this forum for a while and I haven't introduced myself. I have a couple of minutes so here goes. My name is Cameron. I'm from Los Angeles. I've been vegan for about ten years and vegetarian since I was a little kid. That might be an oversimplification. The change to vegeatarian was pretty easy. When I was like 2, 3, 4...somewhere around there, I called myself a fruititarian. And then later became a vegetarian. Occasionally my parents would make me eat turkey or fish. But after a while, no meat at all. Then in my early teens I went vegan. And by the time I was in college I had convinced my parents to go vegan too. LA is a great town for vegans. We have tons of veg restaurants and lots of places to buy veg food. It's very accepted here. And my hybrid car is normal here, too. There are hundreds of them on the roads here. I've been working out since high school. I hit the gym five days a week. But I'm not into building a large amount of mass. I stay opn the lean side. I'm an actor, and as we alll know the saying, the camera adds ten pounds. Well, it really does. So anyhow. That's me. I know a lot about nutrition and vegan products/ingredients/stores/restaurants/bakeries/etc. PM me if you have questions. Nice to introduce myself to everyone. See you on the boards.

the definition of gelatin: A protein-based substance found in animal bones and connective tissue. When dissolved in hot liquid and then cooled, it can be used as a thickener and stabilizer. This article explains all about gelatin to inquisitive vegans and vegetarians: http://www.vegparadise.com/news39.html But about my last post, my research shows that no vegan should use Emes Vegan Gelatin. This article explains why: http://www.vegparadise.com/news53.html Basically, some scientists tested Emes and concluded that it behaves like animal gelatin and not like carageenan. So I would just use agar if you want something similar. Or the starches that I mentioned.

i don't have bone char in my sugar. i guess you mean here in the US? that is because we use cane so much more. if you're in europe, then you use sugar beets more and those almost never use bone char. i guess that's what you meant.

Earth Balance is 100% vegan margrerine in a tub. They even have a 100% organic version. As for cheese, most of the vegan restaurants in LA use a cashew based vegan cheese. http://www.fitnessandfreebies.com/veg/macdinner.html Try the cheese part of that recipe. Here are other vegan cheese links: http://consultclarity.com/recipes/vcheese.html http://www.recipecottage.com/vegetarian/vegan-cheese06.html

Solgar has a large variety of totally vegan amino supplements. But they can get expensive. If your trainer told you that and your trying to bulk up, the main one is Glutamine. It helps muscle recovery. Ornithine-Arginine supplements are also good for post workout. They help block free-radicals and replenish oxygen supplies after cardio. This is because a lot of marathon runners and cyclists get blurry vision. This stems from a lack of oxygen flow to the ocular nerve. So that's why Arg-Orn is a good choice. Carnitine works well to helps build muscle and burn fat. Taurine is good for energy. And if you get a cold, take Cystiene. It's the most common amino in Chicken Broth. It breaks up mucous, which is why chicken noodle soup is good for colds. But the short answer is look to Solgar.

Florida Crystals brand Evaporated Cane Juice is non-bone char. A majority of evaporated cane juice will be this way. Also, Agave works really damn well for baking and as a substitute for any recipe calling for honey. Agave is great on the glycemic index too. I agree with an earlier post that Stevia is good, but it tends to be expensive. And I've found that it doesn't bake all that well for my standards. There are a lot of sugar alcohols that are vegan and great sugar substitutes. They are a class called polyols. http://www.caloriecontrol.org/redcal.html http://abouterythritol.homestead.com/ http://www.netrition.com/lowcarbsuccess_erythritol_page.html Those have have good info on them. There is a laxation limit on per day intake for most of these. Polyols are what diabetics eat instead of sugar. But in other countries, Japan for instance, where they are very conscious of the glycemic index, they use these all the time. The best one is Erythritol. I think it's the best because it has virtually no laxation effect. It is completely absorbed by the small intestine and you pee it out, so it really has no effect on your caloric intake at all. The FDA says it has up to 0.2 calories per gram. It and Xylitol taste the best. They all work well for cooking, especially Erythritol and Maltitol. Maltitol can replace the sugar and some fat in baking recipes, but it has a slight aftertaste. Turbinado is sometimes vegan. Google it and find the ones that are vegan. Date sugar is amazing for baking. Real Food Daily, a famous vegan restaurant in LA bakes with date and maple sugars. There are companies that make vegan Brown Sugar. Hain may have a non-bone char brown sugar. But you'll have to check their site yourself. There are loads of other vegan sweeteners. But I'm tired of typing now. I hope this helps. PM me if you want any other vegan sweets and baking tips.

Um. Gelatin as spelled exactly that way in ingredients, whether Kosher or not, is in fact never vegan. It's from hooves, tendons, and other cartilage. If it's Kosher, it was killed in a certain way and a Rabbi blessed it and inspected the facility in which it was prepared. Breath Asure is definitely not vegan. Trust me. I've been vegan for ten years and vegetarian since I was a little kid. I'm pretty paranoid about animal products slipping their way into stuff I eat without my noticing it, so I read the ingredients on everything and I research ingredients with which I'm not familiar. Now, as to this vegan gelatin thing...check out this page: http://www.veganessentials.com/catalog/emes-unflavored-vegan-gelatin.htm Emes vegan gelatin is made from Carrageenan, locust bean gum and malto-dextrin. This is cool, but if you have a lot of allergies or if your nose gets stuffy a lot, you might want to be careful about anything that has carageenan. It comes from seaweed and generally thickens up all of the mucous in your body. Anyhow, agar, locust bean, xanthan are a little better, but still cause this. If you need to thicken things then corn, tapioca, rice and potato starch work best and they are easily broken down by the body. So no thick mucous. Again, though. Unless you see that the Gelatin is actually a product such as Emes that has ingredients listed, the Gelatin you see in the ingredients is animal based. Hope this helps

thanks for sending me over to this thread. i'm going to follow this for a few weeks and see what happens. gotta get a heart rate monitor tomorrow. again, this is massively helpful. rock on.

it was my childhood nickname too....and middle school.....and high school....hell, i still hear it a lot. thanks for the advice. i will try for the clean foods, robert. and i will check out your thread, nat. robert, you and i are reversed. my quads never seem to show that much (i am 6'3" so the legs are long), but my abs are always there. they really show up if i drop a little weight, but i usually drop muscle mass, too. i've never thought of trying for the good clean unprocessed stuff. but it makes sense. someone told me i needed a good detox. and thanks for the congrats. i've been a vegetarian since I was a little kid so like 15 years or so. big ups to you on the ten years.

I did see this article, but this is for Robert when he's in competition. I'm not in competition, but I would like to get the definition.

As a 22 year-old, what body fat percentage should I be aiming for? As near as I can figure I'm around 11 or 12. I've been told by a few people that things like abs and quads show up around 7.5 or 8%. Is this true? What are some good tips for trimming body fat? I seem to have hit a plateau. I work out 4 or 5 days a week (usually every other day) and I've been a vegan for over 10 years. Should I eat more or less, cut fat or sugar or carbs, do even more cardio (or less), etc? I could use some help with this, please. Thanks.