photo from Shutterstock

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Fat is an essential nutrient for humans. It provides energy, helps with absorption of essential vitamins, and supports growth. Fats are found in plant foods and in animal-based foods. From a health standpoint, does the source of fat matter?

A group of researchers set out to answer that question by looking at results from a very large study. This study, called the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study, took place in the United States from 1995 until 2019. More than 400,000 men and women with an average age of 61.2 years were studied. Information was collected about their diets at the start of the study and they were followed for up to 24 years. Over that time, more than 185,000 people died.

Those with higher intakes of plant fats, especially fats from grains and vegetables oils were less likely to die overall or to die from heart disease or stroke compared to those with the lowest intake of plant fats. Those with higher intakes of fat from meat, dairy products, and eggs were more likely to die overall or to die from heart disease or stroke compared to those with the lowest intakes of these fat sources. The study authors calculated that replacing 5% of calories from animal fat, red meat fat, dairy fat, or egg fat with plant fat, grain fat, or vegetable oil fat was associated with a 4% to 24% lower risk of death overall and a 5% to 30% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease (1).

Although this was not a study of vegans, it suggests that vegans’ avoidance of animal fats may help to explain their lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (2). In addition, this study supports the replacement of animal fats (including fats from meat, dairy products, and eggs) with plant fats for improved health. From a health standpoint, the source of fat matters.

References

1. Zhao B, Gan L, Graubard BI, et al. Plant and animal fat intake and overall and cardiovascular disease mortality. JAMA Intern Med. 2024;184(10):1234-1245.
2. Landry MJ, Senkus KE, Mangels AR, et al. Vegetarian dietary patterns and cardiovascular risk factors and disease prevention: An umbrella review of systematic reviews. Am J Prev Cardiol. 2024;20:100868.

To read more about cardiovascular disease and vegan/vegetarian diets see:

Heart Healthy Diets: The Vegetarian Way

Vegetarian Diet Reduces Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Healthier Vegetarian Diets Are Associated with a Reduced Risk of Major Cardiovascular Events

Vegan Diet Improves Cardiovascular Health: Results of a Twins Study

photo from Roland Park Bagel

If you happen to visit Baltimore, Maryland (home of The Vegetarian Resource Group), you can enjoy a delicious vegan breakfast or brunch at these establishments:

Catalog Coffee: Enjoy their Classico Vegan (paprika scrambled Just Egg and vegan cheddar); The Garden of Vegan (paprika scrambled Just Egg, vegan sausage crumbles, vegan cheddar, spicy cito, onion, tomato, pickled jalapeño, baby spinach, and fresh basil, plus more. See: https://www.catalogcoffeebmore.com/vegan

Golden West Café: Vegan breakfat options include French toast, breakfast tacos, waffle, and more.  See: https://order.toasttab.com/online/golden-west-cafe

Harmony Bakery: Dine on gluten-free baked goods, tarts, quiche, and more. See: https://harmonybakery.net/menu/

The Land of Kush: Offers a Sunday brunch consisting of 2 gluten-free fruit-filled (blueberry, banana, strawberry) or plain pancakes (choice of 2 options: veggie scramble, potatoes, veggie sausage). See: http://places.singleplatform.com/the-land-of-kush/menu?ref=google

My Mama’s Vegan II: Located in Lexington Market, they offer several breakfast items including French toast croissant with sausage, Just Egg, cheese, and maple syrup, topped with strawberry jam; Fried oyster mushrooms, Just Egg, cheese, and breakfast sauce on a croissant; and breakfast street tacos. See: https://mymamasvegan2.com/menu

One World Café: Vegan brunch options include tofu scrambler, oatmeal, vegan pancakes or blue corn cakes, and vegan French toast. See: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063530110691

Red Emma’s: Vegan breakfast items include cream cheese and veggie bagel, hummus and veggie bagel, vegan lox bagel, and hash browns. See: https://order.toasttab.com/online/red-emma-s

Roland Park Bagels: They offer many vegan options including a bagel with Just Egg, vegan cheddar, and vegan sausage or vegan tempeh bacon; bagel with vegan cream cheese; strawberry oat bar; powerhouse sandwich; and more. See: https://order.toasttab.com/online/roland-park-bagels

Urban Life Center: Dine on fresh juices, smoothies, and a variety of bowls. See: https://www.urbanlifecenter.org/our-menu

Have you ever wondered if an ingredient listed on a food label is vegan or not? The Vegetarian Resource Group has an online guide to food ingredients that lets you now whether a specific food ingredient is vegan, vegetarian, non-vegetarian, typically vegan, typically vegetarian, may be non-vegetarian, or typically non-vegetarian.

You can search through this guide here: https://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

To support this type of difficult research, please consider making a donation to The Vegetarian Resource Group: vrg.org/donate

mushrooms photo from Freepik

Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD, states: There are more than 30 types of edible mushrooms. The “common” mushrooms including button, cremini, and portobello are the most familiar and available, but it’s great to take advantage of chanterelle, oyster, shiitake, straw, and many others when you find them. Each mushroom has its own flavor and texture, but all add umami to the menu.

Mushrooms are not actually a vegetable; they’re a fungus. They contain B6, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc. Portobellos are a bit chewy when eaten fresh. If you’d like to mellow the texture, marinate in a small amount of citrus juice, vinegar, or wine for an hour prior to using. If you have the time, bake, grill, or roast portobello caps to use later instead of bread, for a hearty open-faced sandwich or a mushroom-crust individual pizza.

Sliced fresh common mushrooms can be the main ingredient in a salad (flavor a bowl of sliced mushrooms with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, sliced green onions, and soy sauce) or used as a garnish. Sliced fresh mushrooms make a great sandwich filling, tossed lightly with mustard and your favorite salad dressing. Chopped fresh mushrooms can be added to cooked grains, to cooked veggies (asparagus, green beans, greens, peas, etc.), or to soups and vegan chilies to add flavor and texture. Be certain to use the entire mushroom, including caps and stems.

If you can find them, shiitake mushrooms can be stir-fried or sautéed, and pair well with garlic and onions. Consider lightly sautéing shiitakes, garlic, and onions in some vegetable broth as a topping for entrées instead of sauce or gravy. Add shiitakes to vegetable and bean soups and into noodles, pasta, or rice dishes. If you’ve had traditional miso soup, the mushrooms you tasted in the soup were shiitakes.

To make mushroom ceviche, toss chopped fresh mushrooms with oil and vinegar, cover and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for several hours. If you have leftover mushroom ceviche, you can quickly sauté it and serve over rice or cooked grains or use as a hot sandwich or wrap filling. You can also stir some ceviche into a tofu breakfast scramble or use as a topping for toast.

Fresh mushrooms are delightful eaten on their own. Simmer some in water or broth and a small amount of soy sauce and miso for a fast, light soup. This can also be used as cooking liquid for rice noodles, rice, or grains of your choice. To make a fast mushroom stroganoff, sauté or steam fresh, sliced mushrooms; add chopped onions; stir in vegan sour cream, white pepper, nutritional yeast, and garlic powder; and serve over prepared noodles.

apples photo from Freepik

There are so many varieties of apples available in markets these days; but do you know what to do with them? Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD, shared some creative ideas in her previous Vegan Cooking Tips column in Vegan Journal. From apple curry to apple salsa and apple pie burritos, you’ll never run out of ways to prepare apples. See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2020issue4/2020_issue4_cooking_tips.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only at https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

photo from Camp4Real

It’s not too early to find a vegan-friendly summer camp for your children. Here are some possibilities:

Vegan Camps

Camp4Real in Charlottesville, Virginia serves vegan meals. See: https://www.camp4real.com/summer-camp/

Veg Camp in Canada serves vegan food: https://vegcamp.ca/

Vegan Camp in New Jersey serves vegan food: https://tomorrowsadults.org/camp/summer/

Vegan-Friendly Camps

Camp Zeke is a Jewish camp that will accommodate vegans. They are located in the Pocono Mountains in Lakewood, PA. See: www.campzeke.org

Mountain Camp in California offers a vegan option at every meal as well as a salad bar. See:  www.mountaincamp.com/about/food-at-summer-camp

Takodah YMCA camp in New Hampshire offers a vegan option at every meal. See: https://www.camptakodah.org/summer-camp/about/food-nutrition/

Urban Adventure Camps Culinary Camp 2 (vegan cooking) located in Oakland, California. See: https://www.urbanadventurecamps.com/culinary-camp-2/

Be sure to follow The Vegetarian Resource Group on Instagram: @vegetarianresourcegroup

mixed nuts photo from Freepik

Here are some ideas from Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD, for adding nuts to your menu:

• Add to salad dressings: Creations include a basil walnut vinaigrette or creamy salad dressing with almonds, mustard, and dill with added chopped pine nuts.
• Add to sandwiches: Chopped walnuts, almonds, peanuts, and pecans add a toasty flavor and extra texture to grilled vegetable sandwiches, falafel, and hummus. Or add chopped nuts to smooth peanut, almond, or soy butters to make a crunchy sandwich.
• Use as garnish: Increase protein, flavor, and texture by adding to bean and rice casseroles, baked potatoes, hot and cold cereal, baking batters, puddings, or vegan ice cream sundaes.
• Add to pasta: Top tomato-sauced pasta with chopped almonds or pine nuts, creamy-sauced pastas with walnuts or pecans, or toss pasta with olive oil, sautéed garlic, and chopped almonds.
• Add to sauces: Stir peanut butter or soy butter into mushroom sauces for a Thai effect; add ground almonds or pine nuts to creamy sauces and pecans or pistachios to fruit sauces.
• Add to breakfast: Baked apples, oatmeal, hot cereals, cold cereals, and muffins can all benefit from a variety of chopped nuts.

radishes photo from Freepik

Here are some radish cooking tips from Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD:

• Microwaving: Place 1/2 pound (about 3/4 cup) sliced radishes in a microwaveable dish with 1 Tablespoon of water or broth. Cover and cook until tender. Cooking time: four minutes on HIGH.
• Steaming: People who find raw radishes too spicy may enjoy the milder taste of steamed radishes. Cooked radishes will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days, so prepare extra. Steamed red radishes will turn pink. Place whole radishes in a vegetable steamer and cook over boiling water until barely tender. Shredded daikon can also be steamed, cooled, and added to salads. Cooking times: for whole radishes in a steamer, 8-12 minutes; for shredded daikon, five minutes. • Stir-frying: Sliced radishes or thin strips of daikon combine well with other vegetables, tofu, or vegan “meat” alternative in stir-fries. Be careful not to overcook the radishes so that they retain most of their crispness. Cooking time: 3-5 minutes.
• Roasting: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Scrub radishes and remove greens. Place on an oiled baking sheet and allow to roast until just soft. This helps to sweeten radish “heat;” and makes a wonderful side vegetable. If your barbecue or grill is already hot, make a foil packet of radishes and allow to roast over the coals.
• Quick Pickle: When all the pickles are gone from your store-bought pickle jars, cut cleaned and de-greened fresh radishes in quarters, and place in the remaining pickle brine. Refrigerate and enjoy your radish pickles!

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

A recently published research study comprehensively assessed plant alternatives to animal meat and cows milk in terms of their effects on the environment, nutrition, and human health. Plant products were compared to the animal products these alternatives were intended to replace.

Three veggie meats (veggie burgers, veggie sausages, and veggie bacon) as well as tofu and tempeh and soybeans, beans, and peas were compared to beef, pork, poultry, beef burgers, pork sausages, and pork bacon. Soymilk, oat milk, almond milk, rice milk, and their main ingredients (soybeans, oats, almonds, and rice) were compared to whole and low-fat cow’s milk.

Here are a few of the more interesting results:

• All meat and milk alternatives had lower environmental impacts per serving than the animal products the plant products were intended to replace.
• Compared to whole and low-fat cows milk, soymilk and oat milk had 28 to 29% of the environmental impact. The environmental impact includes greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and water use. Soymilk and oat milk had 5 to 9% of the effect of cows milk on water use. Soybeans had 10% of cows milk’s impact on the environment; almonds and oats had 12 to 15% of the impact of cows milk on the environment.
• Compared to beef, soybeans and peas had 2% of the environmental impact, veggie sausages, veggie bacon, and beans had 3 to 4% of the impact, and tempeh, veggie burgers, and tofu had 5 to 6% of the impact.
• Replacing all of the calories from meat or dairy in a hypothetical diet with plant alternatives reduced nutritional imbalances, overall. For example, replacing meat or dairy resulted in a reduction in saturated fat and increases in fiber and potassium.
• From a health standpoint, all of the plant products were associated with reduced risk of chronic disease compared to the animal products they would replace. In high-income countries, replacing all meat or dairy with the same calories from plant alternatives was calculated to reduce mortality by up to 5 to 6%.

The study’s author concludes that “a range of food products exist that when replacing meat and dairy in current diets would have multiple benefits including reductions in nutritional imbalances, dietary risks and mortality, environmental resource use and pollution, and when choosing unprocessed foods over processed ones also diet costs.”

These results should inspire both personal and global policy changes to increase the use of plant foods.

Reference

Springmann M. A multicriteria analysis of meat and milk alternatives from nutritional, health, environmental, and cost perspectives. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024;121(50):e2319010121.

To read more about studies of plant foods and the environment see the Environment section on our website.