Tag: healthy

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Student Life

Montreal festival is a vegan’s paradise

The festival promoted a vegan lifestyle, included stands with food, clothing garments, shoes and skincare products. Photo by Elisa Barbier

May contain eggs, milk, butter or gelatin are words that could not be found anywhere at Marché Bonsecours this weekend. Ingredients like soy, nuts, legumes and tofu, on the other hand, were readily available.

On Nov. 4 and 5, vegans from across the country gathered for the fourth edition of Montreal’s Vegan Festival. Conferences, culinary demonstrations, dégustations and over 30 stands introduced aspects of veganism to the public.

In the scenic Old Port, the market was packed to its maximum capacity throughout the weekend. A stage was set up on the lower level to host conferences and culinary demonstrations by vegan cooks, artists, athletes, philosophers, sociologists and bloggers. The upper level offered different options of vegan food, drinks, desserts, skincare products and clothing. Festival goers ranging from toddlers to seniors lined up for free samples of cheesecake or kombucha. Some tried on winter jackets or even got a vegan tattoo.

After five years of experimentation in her kitchen to veganize her favorite comfort food, Sam Turnbull attends Montreal’s vegan festival for the first time. Photo by Elisa Barbier

Among the many people hosting conferences at the festival, Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches, a professional triathlon athlete from Quebec, discussed the health and athletic performance benefits of a vegan diet. Three years ago, Jolicoeur Desroches made the decision to become a vegan after seven years as a vegetarian. “I had always been careful with my impact on the environment, but I had never thought of the impact my eating habits could have,” he said. For Jolicoeur Desroches, his ethics toward the environment were far more important than the effect this new diet could have on his body and practice. Nonetheless, the results were positive and noticeable. “My performance increased. It became easier to recover, and I became able to use all the energy my body was uselessly spending to digest animal products,” he said.

He advised young athletes to make the transition slowly, adding days or meals throughout the week that eliminate animal-based products, such as “meatless Monday.”

“[Veganism] is a lifestyle that must be established for a lifetime through progressive change,” Jolicoeur Desroches said. He added that traveling for competitions has not hindered his eating habits. “There are always local products like fruits, vegetables, pasta, potatoes or rice. Also, having a set of spices is good to diversify seasoning,” he said.

Seasoning is big part of Sam Turnbull’s daily life. The Concordia alumna and author of the blog “It doesn’t taste like chicken” attended the festival to discuss her new book, Fuss-free Vegan, about vegan comfort food.

Unlike Jolicoeur Desroches, Turnbull made the full transition overnight five years ago after watching a documentary on animal cruelty. Growing up in a family of chefs, butchers and hunters, Turnbull loved cheese and meat. “When I made the switch, it is because I knew I should, not because all of a sudden I was obsessed with vegan food,” Turnbull said. “At first, I started looking up vegan recipes, but it was all kale, quinoa and energy bars. So I started my blog because I don’t eat that way,” she said. Turnbull’s blog is unique, as it features recipes focusing mainly on comfort food like pizza, burgers, sandwiches and dessert—foods that people don’t usually associate with veganism.

“It is all with easy-to-find ingredients at local grocery stores, not weird powders or maca root,” Turnbull said with a laugh. She encourages students to follow a vegan lifestyle since foods like cheese and meat can be expensive compared to fruits and vegetables. And diversity in taste is easily achievable using spices. “You can make a delicious meal with beans and rice as long as you have the right spices in it,” Turnbull said.

Vesanto Melina hosted a conference on Saturday afternoon providing nutritional advice for the public and the dietitians assisting the festival. Photo by Elisa Barbier

Beans are also the solution for Vesanto Melina, a dietician and lead author of the book The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Beans represent a source of vegetable protein often forgotten, according to Melina. She was a vegetarian for more than two decades before making the transition to veganism 24 years ago. As a dietician, Melina discussed the dos and don’ts of a vegan diet, but also how to get all the nutrients your body needs.

Learning to add beans, peas and lentils to your recipes as well as acquiring non-dairy sources of calcium in your diet is often forgotten. “Once people have those knacks and they make sure to take vitamin B12, things move along really well,” Melina said. Vitamin B12 is an important nutrient that comes from bacteria often present in meat products.

“Vegans don’t lack nutrients more than anybody else,” Melina said. She emphasised that anybody is at risk of malnutrition in Canada—especially those who lack vitamin D during the long winters. “It is easy to find vegetal proteins or calcium that are more efficient than animal ones,” Melina said.

Photos by Elisa Barbier

Categories
Student Life

Fast and yummy vegan recipes

Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes. Photo by Elisa Barbier

Quick, healthy and filling dishes for students who are always on the go

Being a student isn’t easy. Being a healthy student when living by yourself can quickly become mission impossible. Juggling classes, part-time jobs and a social life, time constraints often lead students to eat take-out or simply skip meals. A remedy for this could be to try out two of my favorite recipes from HurryTheFoodUp and Pretty Bees—both websites offer quick-to-make vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free recipes.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

By Hauke Fox on HurryTheFoodUp

Serves four people.

Preparation time: five minutes. Cook time: 20 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/3 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup cooked steel-cut oats
  • 1/3 cup canola oil, regular or organic
  • 1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk
  • 3/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
  • Vegan spread for frying
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon.
  2. Add the canola oil, non-dairy milk, vanilla extract and cooked steel-cut oats. Stir to combine.
  3. Add the chocolate chips and stir until evenly mixed. Set aside for a few minutes—you will see the batter puff up because of the baking powder.
  4. Heat the vegan spread in a skillet over medium heat.
  5. Once the spread is sizzling, pour a tablespoon of the batter into the pan. Reduce the heat slightly.
  6. Watch the pancake closely—when the edges start to firm up and look cooked, use a spatula to flip the pancake carefully.
  7. Cook until golden brown, usually two to four minutes on each side. Remember to add more vegan spread to the pan between each round of pancakes.

Vegan Chickpea Curry

By Kelly Roenicke on Pretty Bees

Serves three people.

Preparation time: 10 minutes. Cook time: 15 minutes.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup basmati rice
    Vegan Chickpea Curry. Photo by Elisa Barbier
  • 2 pinches of salt
  • 2 small onions, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • ½ lime, juice
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons curry paste or powder, to taste
  • 1 can (1.5 cups) coconut milk
  • 1 can (400g with liquid) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons soy sauce, to taste
  • 2 medium tomatoes or a handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped. (The sweeter the better).
  • 1 cup basil leaves, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup or sugar
  1. In a pot, add rice to 500 ml of water. Throw in a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Keep an eye on the rice. When the water is boiling, put a lid on the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook for another 8 to 10 minutes until the water is fully absorbed by the rice.
  2. In a large pan, cook onions in olive oil at low-medium heat until the onions start to soften and turn clear, about five minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
  3. Add one tablespoon of curry paste and the milk, stirring until the curry dissolves. Add another pinch of salt. Add more curry paste to taste.
  4. Add the chickpeas and soy sauce, and cook on medium heat for about five minutes, bringing the curry to a boil. If it starts to burn, reduce heat immediately.
  5. Add the tomatoes, basil and lime juice, and gently simmer the curry for another two minutes. Add more soy sauce to taste and stir in maple syrup or sugar.
  6. Serve the curry in a bowl over rice.
Categories
Student Life

Drink up ladies and gents!

Graphic Jennifer Kwan

In a city full of university students, it comes as no surprise to learn that Montreal is one of the most alcohol-friendly cities in Canada.

Graphic Jennifer Kwan

Since most students are tired of hearing how drinking is so bad for them, it may be of interest to know that some alcoholic beverages do have health benefits. Truth is, no matter how hard I look for a miracle drink, it never manifested… but all hope is not lost!

At this point in time, red wine is the only alcoholic beverage with scientifically proven benefits.

“Because the skin of red grapes contains polyphenols (such as resveratrol), red wine has an important antioxidant power,” said Anne-Marie Gagné, nutritionist at Trois-Rivières’ Health and Social Services Centre. “This doesn’t apply to white wine, since it doesn’t contain the same type of grapes, but red wine has proven to be effective against certain heart diseases, Type 2 diabetes and cognitive decline in old age,” she added.

Resveratrol is a type of antioxidant found naturally in other fruits as well such as blueberries and cranberries.

However, not everybody enjoys a glass of red wine, and some researchers say it might not be the only brand of booze which has health benefits. Madrid scientists, Rayo Llerena and Marin Huerta, have found that alcohol, regardless of the type, can have the same benefits as wine. The subjects of the study were given beer, wine and vodka, showing that ethanol is the beneficial ingredient. In small quantities, ethanol can decrease cardiovascular mortality from heart disease and stroke as compared to non-drinkers, according to the United States National Library of Medicine.

This mind-blowing declaration is explained by the duo’s belief that alcohol can elevate HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) and can decrease LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), therefore making us healthier.

On top of that, a study conducted by researchers of Oregon State University found that alcohol, consumed in moderation, could also improve bone density, and therefore prevent fractures. According to Urszula Iwaniec, an associate professor and one of the study’s authors, this could especially affect postmenopausal women.

A similar study in Australia, directed by Professor Howard Morris from the Hanson Institute, focused specifically on beer and discovered its health benefits on human bones. The study was based on a sample of 1,700 women with an average age of 48. They were asked about their drinking and underwent ultrasound scans of the hands, as finger bones are the first to show any signs of osteoporosis. The results concluded that the bones of the beer drinkers were denser, thus stronger.

Beer is known to be a great source of dietary silicon, an ingredient that plays a major role in increasing bone mineral density. More specifically, beer that contains high levels of hops and malted barley are richest in silicon.

Eureka! We have finally proven that drinking is good for us! Of course, like everything else, alcohol should be consumed in moderation. “One glass per day for women and two for men,” said Gagné.

Furthermore, we should also be wary that sometimes published studies are later proven to be false. We must keep in mind that scientific studies are peer-reviewed and sometimes biased. Almost everything we consume is a healer one week and a killer the next, so we must use our judgment when comparing scientific results.

In addition, it has not been proven that drinking, even in moderate amounts, is good for the general population. Being intoxicated increases our chances of dying of other causes, especially injury, cirrhosis of the liver and some types of cancer thereby outweighing the benefits cited earlier.

Aside from the pros and cons of alcohol that change with every newly published study, calorie intake is one that is inevitable. Drink hard liquor alone or with mineral water rather than juice or soda or drink light beer because “one gram of alcohol is twice as fattening as one gram of sugar,” says Gagné.

Categories
Student Life

My Cup of Tea blossoms with health benefits

Tea Room My Cup of Tea. By Writer Sara Baron-Goodman

My Cup of Tea is a quaint shop that houses a wide range of holistic Asian teas, packaged for the modern drinker.

The store welcomes you in off the busy Chinatown street with the sound of soft classical music and the subtle smell of blooming tea steeping on the counter.

Loose-leaf teas are sold in Chinese take-out boxes featuring graphic drawings of faces enjoying their My Cup of Tea favorites.  By Writer Sara Baron-Goodman

Decked out with a grass-green carpet and wooden shelves, the one-room shop is packed from wall to wall in teas hailing from across Asia, all neatly stacked in vibrant packages.

Loose-leaf teas are sold in Chinese take-out boxes featuring graphic drawings of faces enjoying their My Cup of Tea favorites, lending a bit of style to your basic Oolong or Jasmine tea.

Located on St-Laurent Blvd., just upstairs from the owner’s father’s Chinese medicine practice, My Cup of Tea is in many ways a family business.

“My parents and grandparents were Chinese doctors,” said owner Kenny Hui. He gives credit to them for his acquired passion in herbal remedies. Medicine, however, wasn’t for him.

“As much as my father wanted me to be a Chinese doctor too, I am a very happy person […] I couldn’t deal with a life of seeing sick people every day. I wanted to do something preventative,” he explained.

By opening My Cup of Tea, Hui was able to showcase his knowledge of the natural benefits of flowers and Asian herbs. Right now he’s working with High Mountain Oolong tea from Taiwan, which stimulates digestion and blood circulation. It also acts beautifully as a palate cleanser if you’ve been eating spicy food.

Tea Room My Cup of Tea. By Writer Sara Baron-Goodman

Unlike other popular tea sellers that concentrate more on trendy taste combinations, My Cup of Tea aims to sell teas that are beneficial to the health.

“If you go to Hong Kong or Japan or Taiwan you won’t find chocolate tea or wine tea or popcorn tea, the flavors are very basic,” said Hui. “Nobody says their tea is boring because we know that a good tea, once you drink it, will feel very good in your system.”

Hui’s teas are imported from Hong Kong, but not in a mass-produced “Made in China” way: “I spend a lot of time travelling around and learning ceremonies, from Chinese tea ceremonies to Japanese tea ceremonies,” he said.

My Cup of Tea, though very traditional in many ways, has a unique array of products. It features a line called “Santhé” which is composed of five different tea combinations to aid with some of today’s most pressing day-to-day issues.

There’s the “Workaholic,” made with ginger and lemon peel, that boosts blood circulation and energy while relieving nausea.

Want to trim that waistline? Then the “Fashion Icon” is for you. It is a rooibos tea containing lemon verbena, enhancing one’s metabolism. 

Others cater to the needs of the “Insomniac,” the “Shopaholic,” the “Meat Lover,” and the “Public Speaker.”

The shop’s signature “Zodiac Blooming” teas come in single packages of what looks like a mini tumble weed, but is in fact a flower that will bloom as it steeps in hot water. Each flower bulb corresponds with a Zodiac sign, and whichever one you’re born under is the tea you should drink, according to Chinese philosophy.

“If people are born in the summertime they are very hot in their system so we give them something to cool down. If you’re born in the wintertime you’re cooler and dryer, so we give you tea that helps retain moisture,” said Hui.

My Cup of Tea products can also be found at David’s Tea outlets, Archambault bookstores and the W Hotel. A box of the classic collection teas (Oolong, Jasmine Green tea or White Peony) goes for $12, the Santhé teabags are $6.99 for a fair sized pouch of ten, and a single Zodiac bloom is only $3.

In Hui’s opinion, the tea trend is here to stay. “I think the tea business will become better than coffee in the next few years,” he said with a smile.

 

My Cup of Tea is located on 1057 St-Laurent Blvd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Student Life

Organic food – friend or trend?

Photo by writer.
The Concordian visits Les Bontées de la Vallée organic farm. Photo by writer.

Awareness concerning farming practices has been growing, as the access to organic products has been multiplying around the city. Les Bontées de La Vallée sell their products on the corner of Fabre St. and Laurier St. each weekend from July to November. At their stand, you can buy an impressive diversity of organic goods following the time of season: carrots, fresh lettuce, apples, pears, fines herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, blueberries, potatoes, beets, bok choy, as well as other varieties rarely seen in the grocery store such as swiss chard, kale, purple broccoli, tomatillo, purslane and even fresh chamomile.

François D’Aoust is originally a graphic designer. A few years ago, he started reading about organic farming and medicinal plants. His interest grew stronger as the time passed and he finally decided to take a course on agriculture production in Ontario to start his own business.

He then met Plante, who was an artistic agent at the time. She fell in love with organic farming and the organic farmer!

The two have been running the farm together for three years. For Plante, it’s the human side, offering a space for community bonding and sharing at the market. For D’Aoust, his passion is to offer a wide variety of fresh quality and responsible products.

How then is it possible that Stanford University can state that “after analyzing the data, the researchers found little significant difference in health benefits between organic and conventional foods”?

Photo by writer.

First of all, its claims were made mostly on a nutritional basis. They analyzed papers “that compared either the nutrient levels or the bacterial, fungal or pesticide contamination of various products (fruits, vegetables, grains, meats, milk, poultry, and eggs) grown organically and conventionally.” At the same time, the study specified that “there were no long-term studies of health outcomes of people consuming organic versus conventionally produced food; the duration of the studies involving human subjects ranged from two days to two years.”

The question is: can you draw relevant conclusions on these relatively short-term studies? What happens when you look at the whole picture, taking into consideration other elements beyond the nutrition levels?

The principle underlying organic farming is sustainability, in the short as well as the long run. On the farm in Havelock, D’Aoust is constantly trying innovative farming practices to produce in the most natural way.

Rather than rolled down in June, rye and clover are sowed in a field where they will stand as green fertilizer and as a blockage to weed for future tomato plants to grow. Daikon roots grow almost wildly, drilling the ground, thus aerating it naturally. Plantation sites are changed around every couple of years as to avoid draining the soil of its nutriments.

Photo by writer.

“Organic farming is a destination,” said D’Aoust.

As students, we can often feel divided between our responsibility as citizens and our restricted budget. An important aspect here, if not the most important, is buying local.

The organic stamp can be very expensive. Often, small-scale farmers just can’t afford it, but many still use sustainable practices. At Jean-Talon Market, you can find several sustainable producers such as Les Jardins Sauvages. It is either the same price or less expensive than at the grocery store since there are fewer intermediaries, and it is by far more delicious!

Organic farmers are often called “family farmers.” It’s about re-establishing the link between consumers and producers. It’s about taking our responsibility through our daily actions, raising our awareness and creating the kind of world we want to live in. So while it’s still unclear what the exact health benefits of eating organic food are, it’s still worth it to invest in these local community-run operations.

 

 

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