Vegan D didnt Work for Me

A couple of years ago I got tested for  D.  To my surprise it was super low, well below the 30 to 100 range the test form said I should be in.

Being vegetarian/vegan/plant based  (yes, I go back and forth in that range). I went looking for a  vegan or vegetarian  supplement, to start taking while I waited to see my main doctor again to get prescribed the D.

In the mean time conversations with my daughter  informed me that my grand daughter  also had low D levels and that her doctor had prescribed 10,000 iu per day and even 50,000 iu per week  doses to take.

Armed with that information I got a vegan D supplement at wholefoods.  the price was close to $1 per capsule.   My Dr, for what ever reason, chose to not believe that the test accurately reflected my D levels, and refused to prescribe the D!  Well I was upset but then it turns out there are no vegan or vegetarian D’s that he could have prescribed.

A year later I got retested, and low and behold, after a year of truly expensive Vegan D, my levels had moved up, just a tiny bit, and I was still below the 30-100 range !    I poured into more research and discovered that the Vegan D I was taking was D2 (Ergocalciferol), and that the non-vegan D was D3  .   The supposed vegan D3 from Lichen was really D2 with only trace amounts, if any ,of D3.

Well I needed D3 not D2.

I settled on the Solgar D3  made from the oil on wool (yes, sheep) in a vegetable capsule. I have been using supplements, many times in extremely  high doses, following the work done by  Durke Pearson and Sandy Shaw from their book “Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach”.  Going back to the 1990’s, Solgar has been one of the few companies that offered vegetarian formulations that I have relied on for supplementation.  I should have taken a hint hint when Solgar did not offer a Vegetarian form of D.

Not long  after I started taking the Solgar D3 I was in an accident. During the hospital stay my D levels where tested. To my surprise I was now at the low end of the 30-100 range that I had been trying to get to for over a year!

I continue to take the Solgar D3 ( 5000iu capsules 2x a day ) as I want to reach the high end of the acceptable range.

It also seems that I am getting some extra benefits  because at this particular point in history, taking D3 can help my body with the Coronavirus.

Yes, getting outdoors into some sunlight is great, but I am home bound these days in chronic pain.  Getting around is just not as easy, but sunny or not, I am giving my body the D3 it needs.

 

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#3 of 5 : Feed your Hair

#3 Cholesterol & Protein hair treatment: weekly, monthly or quarterly

My life rule for “feed your hair” is if I cant eat it I will not put it on my hair or body. My goal is to use products that are free of toxin free. Life is hard enough without poisoning myself with all sorts of products.

Part of the treatment I got at the salon each time was a cholesterol treatment.  This was one hour in the heating cap with a bunch of goop in my hair. it left my hair smooth shiny ans strong.

Later when I did not live near the salon I used the Queen Helene Hair Conditioning Cream, Super Cholesterol to do this treatment at home.

You can also make a “Hair Mayonnaise” yourself.  you just need a couple of eggs, and a few tablespoons of organic oils like coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil or sesame oil.

Basic Hair Mayonnaise for short hair:
2 whole raw eggs
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp olive oil
Place all in blender and mix on high to form a mayonnaise like cream

Place on dry hair from root to ends

Cover hair with plastic hair cap and then a towel to keep warm

Leave on for at least an hour then wash hair with water only to rinse out the cream.

Towel dry your hair as usual.

5 Steps to Grow Long Hair

I learned from Maria Madora at the long hair salon in NYC how to grow my hair long. I went to that salon for many years to during which my hair did indeed grow long and beautiful.  If you are in the NYC area and can go to the Salon, that would be great! They do a consultation  to evaluate your particular situation and give you specific recommendations for your hair.  This is how I got started.  I went regularly for the hair treatments, used the products and used their combs.  They are the best. 

 

Over the years I moved away, life got busy and I went looking for ways to do some of what they taught me outside of the salon. I also looked for ways to keep to the vegetarian, chemical and toxin free life I was building.

Here are the basic rules I follow, more details later.

1) keep the hair you have  ( how to comb )

2) keep the scalp clean   ( wash often! )

3) if I cant eat it i will not put it on my hair or body ( products, toxin free living )

4) be gentle ( styles, rubber bands, hair dryers, curling irons,  and yes combing again )

5) feed the hair and scalp  ( healthy scalp makes more hair, healthy hair does not break )

but I don’t know where to start

Hey Evelyn I need you help I want to start eating much cleaner but I don’t know where to start.

That was the start of my day yesterday. What followed was a conversation with my cousins I would never have dreamed of.

I started gently because I really did not know how much they really wanted to know….

Being aware of what you are eating is the first step

My cousin mentioned drinking something called diatomaceous earth to cleans her system of things that she used to eat that the body doesn’t want anymore. And that other day she was served a plate of food with some salad and she accidentally tasted it  and it tasted so good she ate the whole salad.

That brought back memories of when I started eating raw foods and how the taste of greens changed for me.  At a Christmas party a month later I caught myself snacking on the salad instead of the sweets!

So below is the rest of what I shared about how I eat …

Food should be made from simple basic ingredients that you recognize and could cook with yourself

Better to make long term simple changes
that keep you clean,
than to rely on a cleans
Cleans are good
But every day, every meal
You choose to poison yourself
Or heal yourself

No corn syrup
No white sugar

So I would also like to know what do you usually eat?

Please keep in mind I’m vegetarian
Mostly vegan

Yes you are vegetarian that’s why you’re the perfect source

I eat rice, beans, veggies, veggy meats (mock meats made from soy and wheat) Soy MUST be non GMO
Qinoa
Rice noodles
Tofu
Oatmeal
Nuts

No corn oil
I use sunflower,  coconut or olive oil

I make my own nutmilks from almonds, cashews, walnuts

oh yea, watched a video on how to make it. made and it tasted really good.

No white flour

Its more about what I don’t eat
Milk, butter, cheese is once a week
I eat ginger with the milk items
To assist digestion

No soda
No juice drinks
No juices from containers
No name brand boxed cereals.

I filter all water
For drinking and cooking

wonderful
this will help us a lot

The mock meats are optional

The soy and tofu is optional

I don’t eat salad

I eat dark greens like spinach, kale, swiss chard, Broccoli, Bok choy
raw in smoothies or cooked in dishes

Breakfast:
20 to 32 ounces of….
Fruit and green smoothies. I use raisins and dates to sweeten it
2/3 fruit 1/3 greens with 1 to 2 cups water
No yogurt, no nutmilk in the smoothie only fruit and greens. No carrot in the morning smoothie
Or
Master cleanser lemonade…. 40 onces water plus 1 lemon and 1/4 cup maple syrup or agave ( never honey) and as much cayenne pepper as you can stand with it.
Or
Oatmeal nut milk…. 1/4 cup raw oats plus 1/4 cup nuts plus 1/4 cup agave plus pinch sea salt plus 2 cups water. Blend till smooth
You can add vanilla or cinnamon or cocoa powder or nutmeg and cinnamon to flavor it

On waking I’ll drink 4 cups water
Lots of water all day

So breakfast is raw

Lunch and dinner are cooked …

Its grains and veggies
Rice or qinoa or rice noodles ( no pasta) with mixed veggies cooked in ginger with lots of spices of your choice.
Can be stir fry or soup or side dishes eaten together
Can add beans .. Red, black, garbanzo, lentils, what ever you like or have on hand
Or
can be one of the items listed in breakfast

snacks are …. fresh fruit, water, master cleanser lemonade, nutmilk, compote (fruit cooked in water)
the compote is a Russian dish/beverage … you take the fruits that are too spoiled to eat… too mushy, brown, and boil them in water. the liquid is a sweet fruit drink and the fruit mush is like an apple sauce type of thing

side dishes….. lentils with onions and mushrooms

I don’t generally eat sandwiches, less than 2 per week
I am reducing the bread and wheat in my diet

side dish… avocado cacao agave blended taste like chocolate pudding

I do eat eggs but less than a dozen per month, usually eating out or as egg sandwhiches
,
candy is … dark chocolate 70% -85%  cacao (fair trade, no milk, no butter)
or
cocoa powder mixed with agave/honey to make a fudge syrup
or
chocolate covered nuts
or
raisins
or
dates
or
nuts
or any mix of the above
or grapes, frozen grapes are great treats

no candy bars, no chips

I get or make vegan brownies
and vegan donuts

Drinks….  water, tea, ginger tea, turmeric/ginger
sweeten with agave or honey or maple syrup
or
coconut water
I do not’s drink coffee. I will have 1 cup once a month or less

I will have pizza or Mac and cheese once per week or less made with organic milk and organic cheese.

at parties I will eat cake. but otherwise no
I make my own vegan cake
but only a few times a year

other meals…..
burritos… I use tofu or mushrooms or cactus instead of meat. I don’t use the cheese, I use lots of the avocado

I wont eat anything cooked in any meat oils or drippings… so
no beef or chicken stock or fish stock.
no beef or chicken flavor bullion.

not eating meat gives me more energy

recipes are in my notes section on facebook

Bread and Milk

I read somewhere that you can make glue from wheat flour. It was a craft project. Sure enough its a simple water and flour paste.  But if I eat it, does it do the same thing?Milk was something I loved as a child. It was rich and creamy and yummy. This of course was in the 60′ and 70’s before homogenization and ultra pasteurization became the norm.

I was fine with milk till about the early 90’s. At that time I started to have the very embarrassing problem of gas, really smelly gas. I worked in an office. I took the train to work. I rode on elevators. None of these are good places to release smelly gas farts. Back then I had not made the connection.  I had already been a vegetarian for almost 10 years at that point but my diet included pasta, cheese, milk  and bread in large amounts just about every single day. I was also taking super high doses of vitamins and supplements.

It was not until 2007 that I stopped eating milk products and found to my complete surprise that the smelly gas went away!

At first I thought I was lactose intolerant. So, yes, I tried those lactaid pills.  They didn’t really work.

I found that I could tolerate organic milk, so then I thought it was the rBst and rbGH.

Then I started to hear about A2 and A1 milk proteins. A2 and A1 are types of casein protein . A1 is most common in north American cows while  A2 is more common among Indian cows (the ones with the big hump on the back).  This explained why during the 7 weeks in India I had no gas, bloating, or smelly exhaust problems.

Now I love cake, chocolate cake to be more specific, and I have no plans to stop eating it.  So that is going to be a source of both milk and wheat in my diet.  So I had to reduce all the other sources so the impact of the cake would be negligible.

I do believe in moderation, just not where chocolate in concerned. Making and buying vegan cake and brownies is another option. I do have my own recipes for these and I prefer to eat the vegan version when possible.  I feel so much better after eating them.

My initial goal had been to try to keep my bread intake down to 1 slice of bread per day or one serving of wheat per day. At this point I have switched to rice noodles which are incredibly cheap in China town and I only have pasta once or twice a month. I used to have pasta almost every day and bread almost everyday. Now I’ll have toast or a sandwich maybe once a week.

I keep the bread and bagels in the freezer. Just one loaf and a few bagels can last more than a month for the 2 of us.

As a general rule I read the ingredients on almost every thing I eat. I found that most of the bread now also has milk in it. It’s really hard to find bread that does not have milk.  Really, bread should be grain, yeast, sugar. Everything else is extra.

I’ll be 53  in a couple of weeks.

I’ve been vegetarian since 1987,

so thats, 29 years of no meat, poultry, or fish.
Staying healthy is so much more important to me now.
yes I feel better.
every bit helps