Hey guys, Tehillah here.

This week I’m just going to go over some of the health benefits of switching to a vegetarian diet.
Firstly, I’d like to point out that you can’t just stop eating meat, chew on a carrot and expect to suddenly become healthy. Like with anything, a vegetarian diet needs to be balanced and planned out, otherwise chances are you’ll end up with deficiencies and health problems.
That said, for people who are willing to watch what they eat and make sure they’re getting everything their body needs, the health benefits are well worth it.

Studies have actually shown that people following a well balanced vegetarian diet often have a much lower chance of developing coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and obesity [which is always a plus, right?]. Even the risk of some forms of cancer are lowered when meat is cut out of a person’s diet.

A vegetarian diet also tends to be lower in fat, although this is assuming that enormous amounts of junk food or otherwise fatty foods are not consumed in place of the meat. For example, you could live off chocolate, chips and donuts and be classed as a vegetarian, but you wouldn’t be doing your health any good.

A healthy vegetarian diet mainly consists of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. Eggs, milk and other dairy products are acceptable to most vegetarians, and also have many health benefits.
According to some studies, eggs are great for your eyes and can help lower the risk of developing cataracts. Who doesn’t love being able to see?
Eggs are also a great source of protein, which is always a plus when you don’t eat meat.

Cutting out meat [and by extension, a lot of fat] is a great way to begin losing weight. Of course you still need to exercise, but the first step to losing weight is watching what you eat. So a vegetarian change to your diet might be just what you need to jump start your weight loss, or even just maintain a healthy weight.

There are many more health benefits of switching to a vegetarian diet which i will cover in more detail some time in the future, but that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading!

Til next week,

Tehillah

Hey guys! Tehillah here.

We’re up to week 5 of our Vegetarian Tip!

This week’s ingredient to avoid is Anchovies. Now I know many of you are probably thinking “duh, of course we know to avoid anchovies…”, but what a lot of people don’t know is that many sauces, dressings and marinades contain these small salty fish.

Due to the strong flavor, anchovies are often used to make sauces such a Worcestershire sauce. Another common sauce that may have traces of anchovies through it, is Barbecue sauce. The reason for this is that some Barbecue sauces contain Worcestershire sauce as a flavor boost or even a main ingredient.

A pretty safe way to be sure you’re not getting traces of anchovies in your food is to, once again, always read your ingredients labels, and know what to look for. Food manufacturers can be fairly tricky with the ingredients they label, for instance, it may be stated in the ingredients of a Barbecue sauce bottle that the sauce contains “Worcestershire sauce” without mentioning the use of anchovies. So reading, and understanding food labels is a must. Another important Vegetarian Tip.

An even better way to make sure you know what you’re eating, for those who have some time on their hands, is to make your own sauces. It’s not as hard as it sounds, in fact it can be as simple or as challenging as you like. The choices vary from marinades that can take hours to make, to sauces that can be thrown together using everyday herbs and spices from the pantry in a few minutes.

Just to show you how easy it can be to create great tasting sauces in your own home, some time in the coming weeks I myself [who has very limited experience in the kitchen] am going to whip up several sauces and post their recipes along with my results for you guys. That should be interesting, so stick around.

That’s it for this week, thanks for reading this week’s Vegetarian Tip!

Til next week,
Tehillah.

Hey guys! Tehillah here.

Today we’re up to week four. This week’s ingredient to avoid is commonly listed as Lard.
Most of you would have at least heard of it, but for those of you who haven’t, lard is just a word for solid animal fat, mainly pig fat.

Lard is used in a lot of cooking, chances are you’ve seen it for sale at the supermarket. It is often used in making pie crusts, as it makes for flakier crusts that those made using butter. Lard is also used in some canned foods, such as refried beans.

Avoiding lard in your food is simple. Lard is required to be listed in the ingredients label of any product you purchase, so the best way to make sure you know what you’re eating is to always at least glance at ingredients labels when shopping. It doesn’t take long, and it keeps you aware of what you’re putting on yours and your family’s plates at dinner time.

Just a short one this week, thanks for reading.

Til next week,
Tehillah.

Hey Guys! Tehillah here.

We’re up to week 3 already! I hope you’ve found my weekly tips helpful so far.

This week the ingredient to look out for is found mainly in jelly, gummy lollies and jams, and is listed in the ingredients as gelatin.
Gelatin is a translucent [clear], colourless, almost tasteless substance derived from the skin and bones of animals.

No surprise, gelatin is used as a gelling agent, meaning it is used to thicken liquid solutions. Ever wondered how jelly can go from a liquid to that wobbly blob that you just feel the urge to poke at? That’s the gelatin working.

Some low fat yoghurts also contain gelatin, so keep an eye out.
There’s good news though, for those of you who don’t want to give up your jelly or jam, you don’t have to! Gelatin is just one of the ways that can be used to thicken up all those goodies, thankfully these days there are quite a few.

One vegetarian gelling agent commonly used as a replacement for gelatin is known as agar agar (E406). Agar agar is derived from a species of red sea vegetable. It has stronger setting properties than gelatin, and unlike gelatin, agar agar can set at room temperature after about an hour, although it is advisable to store food containing agar agar in the fridge.

The best way to make sure you aren’t purchasing food containing gelatin is just careful ingredient label reading. if you see the words gelatine, gelatin, gelatina or anything closely resembling those words, avoid that particular product. Many products are made these days with vegetarians in mind, so it is fairly easy to find a vegetarian version of your favourite jelly or jam.

That’s it for this week, good luck guys!

Til next week,
Tehillah

Today we’re on week two of my weekly tips of ingredients to avoid and how to avoid them.

This week’s ingredient is known as Isinglass. It is commonly used for the clarification of certain wines and beers.
Isinglass is a substance obtained from the swim bladder [a gas-filled sac used to control buoyancy] of certain fish.

When certain beers are being brewed [mostly cask conditioned beers, or real ale] isinglass is introduced into the beer to bind the yeast into a jelly-like mass. This causes the yeast to settle to the bottom of the cask, clearing up the beer. If left alone, beer will clear naturally, but of course these days, time is money, and so isinglass is one way to speed up the clarification process.

Often, isinglass is not mentioned in the ingredients label. This is due to the fact that the majority of the substance is removed from the beer before bottling, and so, is often not seen as an ingredient. This can make avoiding isinglass a little more difficult.

A good way to make sure you aren’t consuming unwanted animal products when you drink beer, is to try to buy non-cask beers. Beers that are destined for kegs, bottles or cans are often pasteurized [being sterilized, usually using heat] and filtered. The yeast in these beers tend to settle naturally, without the use of isinglass.

These days there are also many vegetarian alcoholic drinks available. by purchasing these, you can really be sure that you’re not going to get any nasty surprises by way of ingredients.

That concludes this week’s tip. Thanks for reading!

Til next week,
Tehillah.

Hey guys! Tehillah here.

Today I’ll be starting my weekly tips, for you vegetarians out there, on what ingredients on food labels you should avoid, what those ingredients really are, and what you can do to avoid them.

This week’s ingredient to avoid is commonly listed in the ingredients list, of cheese, as enzymes(rennet).
It can be found in most cheeses, and can be a really big downfall for unsuspecting vegetarians.

Rennet is a natural enzyme that young mammals [calves in this case] produce in the mucous layer of the stomach to help digest their mother’s milk. When the rennet comes in contact with milk, it separates the milk into curds and whey [solids and liquids], and for this reason it is used to help solidify cheese.

For those of you who love cheese, but still want to stick to a vegetarian diet, there’s good news. You can have both!

These days there are other methods that can be used to coagulate [solidify] milk to produce cheese. Many vegetables and plants have coagulating properties, including thistles, nettles and fig bark. There are also cheeses that are produced using microbial rennet [meaning certain molds can be used as a replacement for animal rennet. Not as gross as it sounds!].

Cream cheeses and some mozzarella cheese can be made using acid, such as citric acid.
Avoiding animal rennet in your cheese is as simple as checking the ingredients label at the supermarket when you buy your cheese. Many labels will say “enzymes(rennet)”, but you want to avoid that. Look for any labels that say “non-animal rennet” or something similar. These cheeses look and taste very similar [if not better!] to the cheese that contains the animal products, and can be used in exactly the same way.

So that’s this week’s tip, I hope you guys found this helpful. Good luck!

Til next week,
Tehillah.