- The Canadian Vegetarian
- Flavour of the Month: Basil
- Article of the Month: How Many Vegetarians Are There?
- Site of the Month: CSPI Canada
- Cooking Tips: Gas-free Beans
- Recipe Update
- NIN Tracking Nutrition Trends Survey, 1997 - Background Information and Major Findings
- Vegetarian Resource Group. How many vegetarians are there? Vegetarian Journal 2000; 9(3):36
- Dieticians of Canada, Factsheet: Celebrating the Pleasures of Vegetarian Eating
- Dieticians of Canada, Factsheet: Vegetarian Eating - A World Food Tour
- Janelle KC and Barr SI. Nutrient intakes and eating behaviour scores of vegetarian and nonvegetarian women. J.Am. Diet. Assoc 1995;95(2):180-6, 189, quiz 187-8.
- Gibson RS. Content and bioavailabilty of trace elements in vegetarian diets. Am J Clin Nutr 1994;59(5 suppl):1223s-1232s.
- Donovan UM and Gibson RS. Dietary intakes of adolescent females consuming vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, and omnivorous diets. J. Adolesc Health 1996;18(4):292-300.
- Donovan UM and Gibson RS. Iron and zinc status of young women aged 14 to 19 years consuming vegetarian and omnivorous diets. J Am Coll Nutr 1995;14(5):463-72.
- National Institute of Nutrition News Release, March 1997
- Ghadirian P, Shatenstein B. Nutrient patterns, nutritional adequacy, and comparisons with nutrition recommendations among French-Canadian adults in Montreal. J Am Coll Nutr. 1996 Jun;15(3):255-63.
- Shatenstein B, Ghadirian P. Nutrient patterns and nutritional adequacy among French-Canadian children in Montreal. J Am Coll Nutr 1996 Jun;15(3):264-72.
- Soak beans for 8 - 24 hours.
- Discard soaking water.
- Add fresh water (enough to cover the beans plus 1 inch) and bring the beans to a boil.
- Boil beans for 15 minutes (do not cover).
- Remove from heat and discard water.
- Add fresh water as per package instructions (usually about 3 cups per cup of dried beans), and bring beans to boil again.
- Add a bayleaf and piece of seaweed per cup of beans (optional, but does seem to help the digestibility of the beans).
- Reduce heat and boil beans gently until very tender.
- Add salt only during the last 15 minutes of cooking time.
- Classic Basil Pesto (vegan; lacto option)
- Pesto Rosso (vegan; lacto option)
- Mexican Pasta Salad (lacto; vegan option)
- Sesame Noodles (vegan)
- Milan Seitan Steaks (vegan)
- Veggie Stroganoff (lacto; vegan option)
- Spicy Tofu with Soba Noodles (vegan)
- Italian-Style Salsa (vegan; lacto option)
- Mustard Vinaigrette(vegan)
- Satay Sauce - Thai Style (vegan)
- Satay Sauce - Chinese Style (vegan)
- Jamaican Jerk Sauce (vegan)
- Green Chile Sauce (vegan)
- Spinach and Mango Salad (vegan)
- Tofu Salad (vegan)
- Three Bean Salad (vegan)
- Tuscan Bean Salad (vegan)
- Curried Potato Salad (lacto; vegan option)
- Rice and Lentil Salad (vegan)
- Morroccan Lentil Soup (vegan)
- Spinach Soup à la Dijonnaise (vegan)
- Cauliflower Cheese Soup (lacto; vegan option)
- Lettuce and Pea Soup (vegan)
- Carrot and Apple Soup (vegan)
- Basic Seitan (Gluten) (vegan)
- Baked Marinaded Tofu(vegan)
- Tofu-"Ricotta" Filling(vegan)
- Italian Tofu Patties(lacto)
- Chinese Steamed Greens (vegan)
- Caraway Cabbage (vegan)
- Root Vegetable Mashes (vegan; lacto)
- Spinach, “Bacon” and Cheese Jacket Potatoes (lacto; vegan option)
- Caramelized Maple Tofu (vegan)
- Pumpkin Pie (vegan)
- Lemon Cheesecake (vegan)
June 2000
In this issue:
The
Canadian Vegetarian
Finding Canadian information
on vegetarianism is certainly not as simple as finding American or British
information, but if you look hard enough, the information is out there.
First stop, Health Canada and the
National
Institute of Nutrition (NIN), who both provide information on the health
and eating habits of Canadians. According to NIN’s 1997 Tracking
Nutrition Trends (TNT) survey, involving 1956 participants aged 18 years
or over, 4% of Canadians describe themselves as vegetarian. Not too
bad. But what exactly defines a vegetarian? Of the self-proclaimed
vegetarians participating in the study, 90% claimed to drink milk, 70%
reported eating eggs, 78% included fish or seafood in their diet, and 20%
even claimed to eat red meat (1). Obviously, vegetarianism
means different things to different people.
Our numbers are probably quite close to the American figure of 2.5% of the non-institutionalised adult population being vegetarian, 0.9% vegan and 4.5% being non-meat eaters but still consuming fish and/or poultry (2).
To many non-vegetarians, vegetarianism is strange and even unhealthy. Not true according to the Dieticians of Canada who say in their literature that a vegetarian diet, as with any style of eating, is healthy providing that the diet is “balanced, varied and meets energy needs” (3). Their position is that vegetarians should follow the Canada Food Guide but replace meats with meat alternatives. If a vegan diet is being following, care should be taken to select plant foods that are high in iron, calcium and other essential vitamins and minerals (4).
A sampling of Canadian studies on vegetarianism seems to support the idea that vegetarian eating can be as healthy, or unhealthy, as the average Canadian diet. A study examining nutrient intakes and eating behaviour among 45 Western Canadian women aged 20 to 40 years, found that the nutrient intakes of health-conscious non-vegetarians and lacto-ovo vegetarians were more similar to each other than those of lacto-ovo vegetarians and vegans. All groups were generally meeting Canadian nutrition recommendations, although concern was expressed about vitamin B12 and calcium intake among vegans. (5) An earlier study examining trace elements (copper, maganese, selenium, zinc) in vegetarian diets in central Canada, found the trace element status of most adult vegetarians to be adequate, however vegetarian children were likely to have insufficient zinc in their diets. Cereals were the main source of the trace minerals in the diet. (6).
A study of teen aged girls in central Canada revealed that although the mean intakes for energy and nutrients were comparable among vegetarians and non-vegetarians, lacto-ovo and semi-vegetarians were more at risk for nutritional inadequacies than non-vegetarians. However a third of meat-eaters were still at risk for iron deficiency (7). This reinforces an earlier study suggesting that the iron and zinc status of teenage girls is generally suboptimal in both vegetarian or non-vegetarian teenage girls. (8).
And how are Canadians in general faring? Well that’s a whole other kettle of fish. As recently as 1997, Canada still had no true picture of whether or not Canadians were meeting their nutritional needs. The most recent comprehensive data dates from to 1970 and is probably no longer applicable to today's habits. (9). Having said this, there are a number of surveys in government, industry and academia to gather information about the dietary intakes of Canadians.
One example is a 1996 Montreal-based study found that French-Canadian Montreal adults and children easily surpass their age-sex specific 1990 Canadian Recommended Nutrient Intakes (RNIs), but fail to meet the Nutrition Recommendations for Canadians with respect to fat, saturated fat and complex carbohydrate intakes. Some respondents had insufficient intakes for energy, specifically 16 to 18 year girls, and calcium intakes were generally inadequate among children and sometimes inadequate among adults (10, 11).
It will be interesting to see results of a nation-wide survey on the nutritional habits and nutrient intakes of Canadians, but until that time Canadians will just have to settle for gathering their information piecemeal from various different sources. Whether it is specific to vegetarianism or not.
References:
Basil is a sweet, fragrant member of the mint family. It has a pungent licorice-mint flavour that works especially well in tomato dishes and most soups and salads. Although there are hundreds of varieties, basil is most commonly found as green leaves. A purple coloured pepper-basil which has a much stronger peppery flavour is also quite popular and available at some speciality markets.
Basil probably originated in India, where it is revered as a sacred herb but rarely used in cookery. In mexico, it is believed that the basil leaf has the power to return a lover's wandering eye.
As with most herbs, fresh is best in cooking. Dried basil bears little resemblance to the fresh herb, although fresh basil does freeze quite well. One of the best ways to storing basil is the italian method of preserving it in olive oil. For tips on drying your own freshly-picked basil, visit Drying and Storing Herbs.
Basil recipes:
- Classic
Basil Pesto
Pesto Rosso
Tuscan Bean Salad
How Many Vegetarians Are There?
A 2000 National Zogby Poll sponsored by the Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG) in the United States
The poll surveyed 968 adults, aged
18 and older. A random sample of listed telephone numbers was used, which
probably excludes military barracks, nursing homes, and hospitals since
those phone numbers are generally unlisted. Defining
vegetarians as those who never eat meat,
poultry, or fish, Zogby arrived at the figure 2.5% of the statistical population
who can be considered vegetarian.
For the complete article and results: http://vrg.org/nutshell/poll2000.htm
Site of the Month: CSPI Canada
Center for Science in the Public Interest is a non-profit, consumer health organization based in Washington, D.C., with offices in Ottawa and Toronto. Its focus is on educating the public and policy-makers about the importance of nutrition and food safety.
CSPI is supported by more than 1,000,000 member-subscribers worldwide, including over 123,000 in Canada, through its monthly publication, Nutrition Action Healthletter, and through foundation grants and sales of educational materials. CSPI also promotes some health-related campaigns, including the Canadian Nutrition Labelling Campaign.
The Canadian site for CSPI is a bit weak. Most of the useful health information is on the U.S. site. And really, good health information does not change when you cross the border. Information you will find on the U.S. site is health and nutrition, food safety, additive safety, information on the antibiotic resistance project and on-line versions of CSPI's monthly Healthletter.
The healthletter has been around since 1974 and each issue focuses on a specific nutrition and/or health related area. It also has many quick, paragraph-style, articles. The Canadian edition actually does report on Canadian foods and uses Canadian data where available. Unfortunately, only the U.S. articles are available on-line. The Canadian healthletter is available by mail only, is about 16 pages per issue and contains no advertising.
Canada: http://www.cspinet.org/canada/
USA: http://www.cspinet.org/
Cooking Tips: Gas-free Beans
There really is no sure-fire method of cooking beans to completely eliminate gas. The truth is, some people have a hard time digesting beans. We can, however, make beans a little bit easier to digest by cooking them properly. Note: this technique does not apply to lentils, which you can just rinse and cook.
If you're beans always seem to be tough,
you might be using old beans. Toss the beans and buy some more.
Always buy your beans from places that have a good stock turn around.
Another reason for having tough beans, could be that you're adding the
salt too early. Salt keeps vegetables firm while cooking, with beans this
can mean beans that never quite taste cooked.
Recipe Update
Recipes added to Amanda's Kitchen since the last newsletter. Since this is newsletter Number 1, this means a list of all the recipes currently available on Amanda's Kitchen.
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Disclaimer: This newsletter and the Amanda's Kitchen web site are not prepared by a registered dietician, nurse, doctor or other medically-qualified individual. Any health and nutrition information provided by Amanda's Kitchen is designed to support, not replace, information provided by a registered dietician or healthcare provider. Where appropriate, Amanda's Kitchen has endeavoured to support information contained on the site and newsletter by providing references to source data and, where possible, specific HTML links.
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