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Potassium in Vegan Diets: Less Kale, More Beans?

It’s not surprising that vegetarians and vegans tend to have higher intakes of potassium compared to omnivores. One simple dietary change—replacing the meat in a recipe with any type of beans—can give potassium intake a healthy boost.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that we vegans always get enough, though. In fact, while it’s far easier to meet needs on a plant-based diet, it’s really a challenge to consume the recommended 4700 milligrams of potassium on any kind of diet. In the Adventist Health-2 study, there was […]

By Ginny Messina|2014-02-19T09:35:50-05:00February 19th, 2014|Tags: Beans, kale, legumes, potassium|27 Comments

Plant Protein: Why Vegan Diets Need Beans

If you subscribe by email to this blog, you may have received a post about calcium and protein and bone health last week. I’m not sure why since that post was published last August. But it worked out to be okay that it popped up out of nowhere. It’s actually a reasonable segue to this post, which is a follow-up to my recent article about my diet.

In talking about my own eating habits, I noted that I tend to favor legumes over grains. A number of […]

By Ginny Messina|2014-02-10T09:53:32-05:00February 10th, 2014|42 Comments

What Does a Vegan Dietitian Eat?

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by The Laziest Vegans in the World about my favorite convenience foods this week. This fun website is “a tribute to vegan pre-packaged food.” I’m glad that these foods exist, especially for those who are reluctant to try veganism because they think it’s too hard or that there are no options for treats. And some of these packaged foods are actually healthy.

But, I don’t eat a whole lot of convenience foods myself and my choices in the interview […]

By Ginny Messina|2014-01-26T16:44:25-05:00January 26th, 2014|40 Comments

Soy Isoflavones, Benefits of Beans, and Mediterranean Foods for Vegans

Soy Isoflavones Are Not the Same as Estrogen

The title for this post has a lot of stuff packed into it, but I wanted to share some articles I’ve been writing elsewhere about plant foods and health.

Mostly, I’ve got beans on the brain these days. I gave a presentation on beans and health at last year’s Sixth International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition and am currently writing an article based on that talk that will hopefully be published next year in the American Journal of […]

By Ginny Messina|2014-01-23T11:34:57-05:00January 23rd, 2014|1 Comment

Never Too Late to Go Vegan: The Book!

Back in June of last year, I shared news about my upcoming book Never Too Late to Go Vegan. I’m happy and excited to announce that the book is finished and shipping from booksellers in the next few weeks.

My co-authors are Patti Breitman, a former literary agent and current vegan activist and educator, and Carol Adams, who you probably know from her groundbreaking work The Sexual Politics of Meat. Patti and Carol invited me to write this book with them and I’m so grateful to them […]

By Ginny Messina|2014-01-12T09:13:35-05:00January 12th, 2014|8 Comments

Vegan, DASH, Mediterranean—Which Diet is Best?

U.S. News recently published their report on the best diets for 2014. The ratings were based on factors like nutritional adequacy, ease of compliance, and effectiveness for weight control or managing chronic diseases.

Not surprisingly, eating patterns like the DASH diet and a traditional Mediterranean diet scored high. These are two dietary patterns that have a great deal of research behind them and have been shown to protect against chronic disease. They are also nutrient-rich and relatively easy to follow.

Like most of the […]

By Ginny Messina|2014-01-09T08:15:48-05:00January 9th, 2014|Tags: DASH diet, Diets, Mediterranean diet|15 Comments

Good Stories and Good Food for Vegan Thanksgiving Activism

The graphic to the left is based on a billboard and poster campaign from Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary, a Colorado-based vegan-advocacy group and sanctuary for rescued farmed animals.

When I posted it on my facebook page a few weeks ago, it clearly resonated with many people, given the number of shares it received. In fact, when I shared it on my personal page, it even got a few “likes” from non-vegetarians among my circle of friends.

That suggests to me that this is […]

By Ginny Messina|2017-07-11T21:03:31-04:00November 25th, 2013|Tags: Thanksgiving, Vegan activism|6 Comments

Vegan Thanksgiving is Easy and Traditional

[updated 11/26/19]

Finding recipes for a fabulous vegan Thanksgiving feast is not exactly a challenge. My own Vegan Thanksgiving board on pinterest is quickly filling up with all kinds of delectable dishes that I will probably never make. The reason I won’t make them is that I tend to be traditional regarding Thanksgiving dinner. I want it to be pretty much the way it was when I was growing up, but with a compassionate makeover.

I might be tempted to make one or two new things some years, but mostly it’s all about […]

By Ginny Messina|2019-11-26T10:10:55-05:00November 14th, 2013|Tags: Celebrations, Thanksgiving, Vegan activism|15 Comments

Vegan for Her “TV” Launches: Creating Healthy Menus with the Plant Plate

Get ready for Vegan for Her TV! It’s kind of a fancy way of describing a fun new project that JL and I are working on. We’ll be doing a series of live broadcasts (with videos uploaded to You Tube for later viewing) via Google+ hangouts.

Assuming that I can get the microphone on my computer to work, we’re going to be chatting about everything vegan—nutrition, cooking, fashion, and more. And if you join us, we’ll be able to answer your questions or address topics of interest to you in real time. Our first episode airs on Wednesday, October 9, […]

By Ginny Messina|2013-10-07T09:58:31-04:00October 7th, 2013|2 Comments

7 Reasons to Eat Meat? Here Is Why They Are All Wrong

In some ways, it’s good news when someone writes another article about “why we should eat meat.” The arguments are so weak that it just reinforces the truth: meat eating can’t be defended.

The most recent of these pieces lists seven reasons why writer Christina Sterbenz “refuses” to stop eating meat. So, let’s look at them.

1. Meat has heme iron which is more easily absorbed.

Vegetarians do have lower stores of iron—which may be to our advantage—but the evidence suggests that meat eaters are just as likely to develop outright deficiency. And, the fact that iron in plant foods […]

By Ginny Messina|2013-10-01T13:24:00-04:00October 1st, 2013|Tags: Iron, Meat|57 Comments