Saturday, August 30, 2008

I chopped off all my hair!



Okay, not all of it. But a hell of a lot of it! and I spent $90! I think it's totally outrageous how much people charge to cut hair. I suppose I wouldn't mind so much if they did something super exceptional... but my hair was long, and now it's short. I actually went to a salon that I knew would be more expensive, but I wanted to try it. It's called Salon 49 (or Studio 49?) in Bolton, Ontario... and it's an Aveda salon. Aveda's website says that everything is plant based, and nothing is tested on animals.. I found that one of the most attractive features. They also said that you get some sort of a relaxation treatment when you go in, including a cup of herbal tea.. I did not get a cup of tea with my $90 visit. I did bring home a bottle of conditioner though... I know, I'm a sucker.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

The Vegan Advantage


The Vegan Advantage
People with Type 2 diabetes should consider going vegan. In a study recently published by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), Dr. David Jenkins, a professor in the Faculty of Medicine, and colleagues report that a low-fat vegan diet improves glycemic control – even more effectively than the ADA diet.

During the study, those following the vegan diet said no to meat, poultry, fish, dairy and eggs, but could eat as many vegetables, grains, legumes and temperate-climate fruit (such as apples, as opposed to, say, papayas) as they wanted. In contrast, those following the ADA diet practised portion control, counting every carb and calorie. At the end of the study, the vegans had lost an average of 14 pounds; the meat-eaters only 6.8 pounds.Among the vegans, LDL (the “lousy”) cholesterol levels averaged a drop of 21 per cent, compared to 10 per cent in the other group. And improvements in blood-sugar management were three times greater in those who had gone vegan.

Jenkins has already shown that soy, almonds, barley and oats can lower LDL levels. But the stunning results of this study must be personally satisfying for Jenkins who turned vegetarian at age 13, shortly
after his mother tried to serve him his pet chicken. – Susan Pedwell

source: http://www.magazine.utoronto.ca/07winter/leadingedge.asp

Thursday, August 14, 2008


I just read this really interesting article on the addictive properties of cheese and meat on "Good Medicine". It's from the book "Breaking the Food Seduction" by Neil Barnard M.D. I'm thinking I'll probably go out and get this book pretty soon. Has anyone else reading this read it? Any comments?

"Analyzing samples of cow’s milk, they found traces of a chemical that looked very much like morphine. They put it to one chemical test after another. And, finally, they arrived at the conclusion that, in fact, it is morphine. There is not a lot of it, and not every sample had detectable levels. But there is indeed some morphine in both cow’s milk and human milk."
"...it turns out that cows actually produce it within their bodies, just as poppies do. Traces of morphine, along with codeine and other opiates, are apparently produced in cows’ livers and can end up in their milk."


Give the article a read yourself here: http://www.pcrm.org/magazine/gm03summer/gm03summer02.html

Friday, August 8, 2008

Summer please stay!

Wow. I've really let it go a long time this time.... summer just seems to be passing me by! I don't know if it's because there's way more stuff to do in the summer; with festivals, fun things going on, visiting friends more often, people getting married and having babies (which means bachelorettes, weddings and showers) OR is it because it hardly feels like summer anymore since every day is grey and rainy. I already feel like I'm in September. OR maybe it's because my day job is really gearing up for an event in September, and therefore, I've got September's calendar constantly in my face.

Whatever the cause is, I don't agree with the summer being so short and/or going by so quickly. I think we should have an intervention with mother nature. :)

I've been meaning to write about lots of things... but like I said, I don't know where all my time is going. Here's a recap of some of the fun stuff that I've done this summer (maybe summing it up will make me feel better???):

white water rafting on the Ottawa river, Canada's Wonderland, Herbivores for Herbivores (vegan bake sale at Heart On Your Sleeve to raise money for Rabbit Rescue), Elvisfest in Collingwood, visiting my good friends at Frosted Flowers Food Co. at the Brampton Farmer's Market, No Parachute Required - art exhibit for Michael Byers and friends, baby showers, bachelorette parties, wedding showers, a wedding in Bolton for an old highschool friend.... there's undoubtedly more fun stuff I've done in the past couple of months, but these are the highlights. Things still to do include paying my brother a visit in Stayner, fulfilling my dad's birthday gift (I must have been having a fit of hysteria when I proposed we all go golfing together! I'm trying to convince him to go without me... so far no luck), celebrating Vesuvius/Waffle day, and of course... the Vegetarian Food Fair!

Not only have I not been writing this blog... I've also been avoiding our "monthly" newsletter (it usually comes out once every 2 months). It's not that there isn't anything to say... trust me. There is so much to talk about that it's hard to keep track of it all... Vegan culture seems to get more and more interesting by the day. I've been listening a lot to Vegan Freak Radio lately, those guys are awesome. Yes, Bob swears a lot and sometimes they are pretty unorganized, but I find them incredibly entertaining AND I find myself usually completely enthralled in whatever they are talking about. So if you haven't checked out their podcast, you should. I've become a huge fan over the course of a couple of days.

My sweet, technology & gadget loving boyfriend recently decided to buy us iPhones. I didn't fight it too hard. They are incredible pieces of technology and I'm hoping that they will help both of us become a little more organized. I have to admit, I love it... there is so much potential too - it's like having a laptop in my pocket. My relationship with Apple products is a sort of love/disappointment relationship. I love their products, I really do, they are superior to Windows in countless ways. I just wish they would get on the green bandwagon like a lot of other corporations are doing. I want them to initiate superior recycling programs to those of their competition... I want them to donate millions of dollars to deserving charities. I want them to use less harsh chemicals and make strict laws regarding sweat shops. Steve Jobs, I hope you're reading this!