Beans

Your Vegan New Year’s Diet: Don’t Forget the Protein

It’s hard to resist the call of the New Year’s diet. There is something about the promise of new beginnings, especially after the season of indulgence.

If your goals for 2016 include weight loss, please make sure your vegan diet includes enough protein-rich foods. I’m not suggesting that you need to eat a high-protein diet. Nor am I saying that eating lots of carbs is bad. My concern is that some vegan weight loss plans are woefully short on legumes. A menu that consists of oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, vegetable soup […]

By Ginny Messina|2016-01-02T13:04:55-05:00January 2nd, 2016|Tags: Beans, dieting, legumes, Protein, weight loss|13 Comments

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

Easy Resolutions for a Healthy Vegan New Year

Happy 2013! There is nothing like a brand new year to inspire health-related resolutions. And while it’s tempting to resolve to make all kinds of big changes, sometimes a few little tweaks here and there are all we vegans really need. Here are ten ideas for vegans—mostly easy ways to fine-tune your diet and lifestyle. One of two of them might help to make your new year a little bit healthier.

1. Give some attention to calcium. It’s simple enough to get enough calcium from plant […]

By Ginny Messina|2013-01-01T09:57:35-05:00January 1st, 2013|Tags: Beans, Calcium, detox diet, Fat, glycemic index, Supplements|29 Comments

Ten Tips for Staying Happy and Healthy on a Vegan Diet

There is a long list of reasons why people fail on a vegan diet and return to the world of cheese sandwiches and fish fillets. They might have developed overt deficiencies or vague symptoms of poor health. Some ex-vegans say that they experienced depression or foggy thinking or fatigue without animal foods. Others struggled with challenging social situations or with cravings for animal foods.

The following ideas for staying happy and healthy on a vegan diet are all things I’ve written about before, but I wanted to condense them into a sort […]

By Ginny Messina|2017-11-01T17:14:47-04:00September 12th, 2012|Tags: Beans, convenience foods, Ex-vegans, Fat, glycemic index, Health, Iron, legumes, Mental health, Nutrition, Omega-3 Fats, Resources, Supplements, Umami, vitamin B12, Vitamin D|77 Comments

A Vegan’s Ode To The Chickpea

I have very few brilliant ideas of my own and must admit that this one—a poem about chickpeas—was inspired by some friends on twitter—ReluctantVeggie and LeafyV. You can find links to their work and words of wisdom at the end of this post. But first..my ode to everyone’s favorite bean.

A Vegan’s Ode To The Chickpea

If you’ve been to a vegan pot luck
Where everyone brings a dish
You’ve tasted six kinds of hummus
Thank goodness it’s so delish.

It’s tasty because it has chickpeas
A very delectable bean
But hummus is just for starters

By Ginny Messina|2009-07-10T10:06:00-04:00July 10th, 2009|Tags: Beans, Poems|0 Comments

Great Vegan Bean Cuisine

The absolute best meal I’ve ever had was a platter of chickpeas and fresh tomato sauce; it had simmered all day on the open hearth of a restaurant in Sicily, and—along with a little pasta, escarole, and Chianti, of course—created a meal that could never be rivaled by even the most expensive cut of meat!

Other wonderful bean-based delicacies: garlic-infused Cuban black beans, spicy Indian lentil curry, or lemony chick pea hummus from the Middle East. Beans are world class cuisine!

I always keep a good supply of canned beans on hand for fast meals. But they […]

By Ginny Messina|2009-02-20T10:50:00-05:00February 20th, 2009|Tags: Beans, Recipes|1 Comment

Beans for Vegetarians and Other Smart Eaters

I’ve got beans on the brain. I’ve been thinking about them a lot because—like everyone else—I’m trying to cut back on expenses. But even in the best of financial times, beans are nearly always on my menu. I love and adore them. Here is what’s so great about beans:

They are central to all kinds of exotic and exciting world cuisine, so beans lend themselves to fun recipes.
They are gorgeous! Lentils and black beans may not be all that exciting, but look around for […]