About Me

My photo
Oregon, United States
Wife, mother, homemaker, teacher and aspiring writer. I love learning about health and sharing that information with others. But I am not a health expert, so please take any advice given on this blog at your own risk

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Day 3: Figuring out Nutrients and Supplements

My weight went up by about half a pound today. Maybe I shouldn’t be weighing myself each day because even small fluid fluctuations can cause that.

The good news is that I woke up at around 7 am without the use of an alar m clock. I felt quite refreshed, which is unusual for me. 

Breakfast A gluten-free, fortified breakfast cereal from Trader Joe’s with coconut milk (not the kind in a can but the milk alternative that comes in a carton) and ½ a fresh banana and ½ cup of blueberries.

Lunch   Had two leftover chick pea crepes with a spring mix of lettuce and carrots. My dog enjoyed some carrots too!

Snack  I cup of blackberries

Dinner  One cup of  okra in a spicy onion and tomato sauce , one cup of yellow dahl (like a lentil soup) and one pita bread.

Evening snack A handful of cashews.

Still forgetting to drink enough water.

I’m noticing that on this diet I’m not feeling hungry all day as I usually do, not craving anything either.

Spent hours learning about which supplements to take. Dr. Andrew Weil, who believes in natural healing advises vegans to take:

1.      A good multi vitamin.
2.      Calcium citrate and magnesium citrate in a ratio or 2:1 with women needing 1000-1,200mg in two doses of 500-600mg with meals. He doesn’t say whether men on a vegan diet need it?
3.      Vitamin C   200-250 mg in divided doses to help absorb iron.
4.      B12   50=100 mg.
5.      Vitamin D3   2000 IU. I discovered that vitamin D3 doesn’t come in veggie form. There is a vegetarian D2 but doctors like Andrew Weil recommend everyone, whether vegan or not to take D3 . So I will continue with that until I discover a better alternative. 
6.      Omega 3 fatty acids   I usually take fish oils for that. Dr. Weil suggests that vegans should take at least plant-based DHA. I did find an algae based one that is new on the market, but it was out of stock.

This week-end, there's an event called Vegfest that we are going to at the Oregon Convention Center. The Forks and Knives movie will be showing there at 5pm on both days and a number of guest speakers will be sharing information. I’m hoping to find out more about nutrients from them, including how to avoid oils completely. It’s difficult to do that because many dietary supplements have oil in them. I also want to ask why olive oil, which is so healthy, is not allowed on this diet.

In the evening, I watched Food Inc on Netflix instant play. It was quite graphic and I think I’ll never be able to eat meat again after seeing it!! It was very informative and revealed what happens behind the closed doors of our food production.

Went to bed a little earlier than usual. I actually fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed!

No comments:

Post a Comment