SewingSew

My daughter is a nutritionist with the health department. In her senior year in college, she came home one day and said, "Mom, I want to thank you for the diet choices you made for me growing up. Because of you I have a well developed gut." Apparently she was one of the only students in her food science class who had been raised eating a lot of dried beans. I also had kept yogurt in the fridge, and she had a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. It warmed my heart that she recognized the benefits of the nutrition that I had tried to expose her to. I had been raised the same way but didn't comprehend how healthy much of our diet was until I had to study nutrition in nursing school. To be fair, as southerners we also ate too much saturated fat, and our deserts were rich (mine still are.) We weren't perfect, but our diets were nutrient dense, and beans were an important part of that diet.

Here is a link explaining the benefit of legumes:
https://breakingmuscle.com/fuel/5-re...d-eating-beans

How many of you are vegetarians and eat a legume rich diet? I am not a vegetarian, but do believe in the benefits of such a diet. I think a vegetarian meal 3 or 4 times a week is a healthful goal. What do you think?

Tartan

Vegatarians are reported to live 10 years longer and healthier. I have always eaten a well rounded diet but I am trying to cut out more sugar and meat now.

roguequilter

thank you for the link. am forwarding it to my son. i raised him on same diet you raised your daughter ..i was also raised this way. i'm a nurse & found the study of nutrition fascinating. i was raised an impoverished farm child & beans, soup bones & vegies were staples. my son is now trying to raise his daughters the way he was, but it's not easy as one half of parenting pair in divorce ..but he's trying.
yes ..there are studies showing vegetarians can live longer ..and there are studies that disprove the claim. all things in moderation is the key..especially meats, refined sugar, saturated fats etc. and another important component to healthy body ...physically demanding exercise.

Onebyone

When I was growing up dried beans were a staple. We had them three or four times a week. Pinto, Navy, Great Northern, Black eye peas and fresh butter beans, Purple Hull peas and Field peas. Usually with potatoes and lots of turnip greens or cabbage. In the summer fresh tomatoes and cucumbers for our sides at every meal. My kids grew up on this food too. Whole foods kept my grocery bill low. The only processed foods I bought was boxed cereal because the kids needed the fun in food sometimes. Whole foods have to be prepared from scratch and cooked and that is something mom and dad don't want to do anymore. Easier to stop for take out or pop in microwave. Then they wonder why their kids get sick with every bug that comes along. My grandson will soon be five years old and does not know what McDonalds is. Never been to a fast food place. I am proud my DD is following her raising.

SewingSew

Vegetarian meals 3 or 4 days a week, fish two days, and lean chicken one or two days would, in my opinion, be a healthy alternative to a strictly vegetarian diet. I think we were meant to be herbivores because of the way our teeth and claws are shaped. Restricting beef and pork to once or twice a month is also a good idea.

I am definitely in agreement with cutting out sugar, but the paradox for me is that I love the way carbohydrates taste. Just the avoidance of processed carbohydrates has huge health benefits. My mother-in-law was diabetic. I bought her a copy of "The Sugarbuster's Diet". It promotes the elimination of high-glycemic foods from the diet. It is much like the "South Beach" diet. The difference is that the first book bases it's glycemic index on sugar, and "South Beach" bases theirs on white flour. The glycemic index assigns a number to a particular food based on it's ability to peak blood sugar levels, with white flour or sugar having the most serious impact. Anyway, when she followed the principles of the diet, her doctor was thrilled with the impact that it had on her health. She lost weight and many of her lab values came within normal limits. She had been relying on insulin to control her blood sugar, but while she was on this diet, she didn't need her insulin. Sadly, she went off the diet and everything went back to the way it had been. She found the diet to be too restrictive. She loved her processed carbs.

SewingSew

Onebyone, I spent summers shelling field peas and purple hulled peas and also speckled butter beans. We froze them in quart containers and they were a staple in our diet, along with all the other beans you mentioned. We were gardeners, so in the summertime we always had fresh veggies, and in the winter we continued to eat from our summer's bounty. We also prepared things from scratch. The little things make a big difference, don't they? While eating the right foods is important, it is equally important to avoid the wrong foods.

roguequilter

sewingsew ..i cook from scratch, no carry out. my son cooks from scratch ..no carry out. like me he is now going home & experimenting to duplicate restaurant dishes he & friends enjoy ..he's great at it .
....and we are omnivores ..we have 'fangs' for holding, ripping & shredding & molars for grinding grains, greens & nuts. we need some meat/fish because as good as beans are, they are not a 'complete' protien.

onebyone ..my family were farmers, we had huge gardens also. i remember going out & climbing up on the thrashing machine & scooping up large can full of freshly harvested white limas ...i love limas!

SewingSew

I don't always believe something is so just because I read it in a textbook. In spite of the fact that I eat meat, I believe that our bodies were built to eat a plant based diet, fish, and eggs. Not that we couldn't eat meat and dairy, but that we were designed to thrive on a plant based diet. Our "fangs" are not long enough or sharp enough, and our claws are not substantial enough to make me think otherwise. Compare your fangs and your claws to a tiger, or a wolf for example.

Most beans are not a complete protein. This is true. That is why you pair incomplete proteins together. You definitely don't need meat to eat complete protein. Let's take, as an example, Kidney beans and brown rice. These two incomplete proteins complement each other perfectly. Rice is weak in Lysine, and Kidney beans are strong in Lysine. Kidney beans are missing Methionine (I hope that I spelled that right.) and rice is loaded with Methionine. So,no meat, no problem. Corn is an incomple protein, but if you pair cornbread with Pinto beans, you have a healthy meal. If I make a pasta salad, and I add chickpeas or black beans, I have complete protein. Throw in some spinach, and it is loaded with good nutrients.

For anybody reading this who doesn't understand how protein works, here is a brief summary. Amino acids are the building blocks of life. Our bodies require 20 to make the protein that we require for tissue repair, body building, transporting nutrients, etc. Of those 20, 9 are essential. That means that we have to get those 9 amino acids extrinsically from food. Our bodies can intrinsically provide us with what we need for the other 11. Pinto beans, Kidney beans--add rice and you have all 9.

Soybeans are a complete protein, but 93% of soy on the market is genetically modified, and I don't want to start talking about gmos, or I'd never finish writing this. Gmos and also high-fructose corn syrup are not your friend. Buckwheat is a complete protein. Quinoa (a seed) is a complete protein. Eggs are a complete protein. Tofu (soy curd) is a complete protein. Anyhow, you don't have to eat meat to have a healthful diet.

In gardening, there is a term referred to as three-sisters. It is a term that originated with indians. First you plant corn. Two weeks later, you plant runner beans and squash. The significance is that indians were able to sustain themselves through times when meat was scarce because these incomplete proteins complemented each other to make a healthy diet.

slbram17

I love beans and rice combo. Also veggies. So salads are a staple of my daily food intake. But then I also love ice cream..could eat 24/7.

SewingSew

Slbram17, I love ice cream too. It has milk in it, so it must be good for you, right? I like plain old vanilla the best, and I like to stir it up until it looks like soft serve. Yummy!!