Vegetarian and vegan diets can significantly improve blood sugar levels Removing animal fats helps improve insulin sensitivity Lowered levels of blood-protein glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) Effect was comparable to drugs which prevent digestion of carbohydrates Changes to diet can be used as an alternative treatment for type 2 diabetes

By Madlen Davies for MailOnline

Published: 06:01 EST, 24 November 2014 | Updated: 08:06 EST, 24 November 2014

156 shares

306

View comments

Switching to a vegetarian diet could help reverse diabetes, a new study claims.

Millions of people battling the killer disease could improve their blood sugar levels by eradicating meat from their weekly shop.

Scientists believe removing animal fats could help cure the condition, leaving patients free from the disease.

They said changes to diet could be used as an alternative treatment for type 2 diabetes.

See original here:
How becoming a vegetarian can CURE diabetes

(CNN) Options for meat substitutes have come a long way since Seth Tibbotts first few Thanksgivings as vegetarian in the 1970s.

Vegetable side dishes and salads were nice but they didnt seem as festive as a turkey, the traditional centerpiece of the Thanksgiving table. The Oregon man tried all kinds of experiments, from a stuffed pumpkin to a gluten roast that took all day to make but was unsliceable and indigestible.

After becoming a professional soycrafter in 1980, Tibbott noticed that sales seemed to slow around Thanksgiving and Christmas as people lost their vegetarian ways and guiltily ate traditional fare like turkey, he said. Aside from tofu, which was primarily only sold in Asian markets, the only commercially available meat alternatives were made by Seventh Day Adventist companies, and many of these products were canned.

I subsisted on a diet of homemade items like pressure-cooked soybeans and tortillas, soy grit burgers, bread and granola, he told CNN.

Over the years, fake meat or what some call plant-based meat grew to include burgers, hot dogs and ground beef. But poultry was still a relatively untapped niche, especially when it came to holiday centerpieces. With the help of Portland sandwich maker Hans Wrobel, Tibbott came up with the first Tofurky Roasts in 1995 and sold them in the Pacific Northwest.

Tofurkey has became a punchline on shows like Jay Leno and The X-Files. In homes across the country, families have begrudgingly ceded a space on the table to vegetarian relatives. But Tibbott is laughing all the way to the bank as his fake turkey product enters its 20th season this Thanksgiving. The company says that more than 3.4 million Tofurky Roasts have been sold since 1995, and several competitors have emerged, creating more tasty bird-free roast options than ever for the holidays.

With its torpedo shape and spongy, loaf-like consistency, the Tofurkey and its competitors are a far gobble from a real bird. But add some stuffing and gravy and you have a comparable substitute for a Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Its that traditional centerpiece, that protein source, that acts as the main dish. A roast brings that taste and texture of turkey that we associate with Thanksgiving, vegan food blogger Bianca Phillips said.

Flavor without the questions

To eat meat substitutions or not is a perennial topic of debate among vegetarians and vegans, especially as mainstream demand for meatless options grows. Some meat substitutes contain processed ingredients, additives and preservatives, adding up to a fake hot dog thats not much healthier than a real hot dog.

Read the original:
20 years of Tofurky: Why eat fake meat?

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Options for meat substitutes have come a long way since Seth Tibbott's first few Thanksgivings as vegetarian in the 1970s.

Vegetable side dishes and salads were nice but they didn't seem as festive as a turkey, the traditional Thanksgiving centerpiece. The Oregon man tried all kinds of experiments, from a stuffed pumpkin to a gluten roast that took all day to make but was "unsliceable and indigestible."

After becoming a professional "soycrafter" in 1980, Tibbott noticed that sales seemed to slow around Thanksgiving and Christmas "as people lost their vegetarian ways and guiltily ate traditional fare like turkey," he said. Aside from tofu, which was primarily only sold in Asian markets, the only commercially available meat alternatives were made by Seventh Day Adventist companies, and many of these products were canned.

"I subsisted on a diet of homemade items like pressure-cooked soybeans and tortillas, soy grit burgers, bread and granola," he told CNN.

Over the years, fake meat -- or what some call plant-based meat -- grew to include burgers, hot dogs and ground beef. But poultry was still a relatively untapped niche, especially when it came to holiday centerpieces. With the help of Portland sandwich maker Hans Wrobel, Tibbott came up with the first Tofurky Roasts in 1995 and sold them in the Pacific Northwest.

Vancouver, British Columbia

New York

Glasgow, Scotland

Chiang Mai, Thailand

See more here:
Would you serve this for Thanksgiving?

In a roughly 2-square-mile patch containing some of India's priciest real estate, a firm and sometimes militant vegetarianism prevails. Most residents of this old-money section of South Mumbai are Jains or devout Hindus, and not only do they not eat flesh, but they also don't want it anywhere near them.

Eateries serving meat and seafood are all but banned, and stories abound of certain apartment buildings refusing to consider prospective residents who are what Indians call sometimes with more than a soupcon of judgment non-vegetarians.

"They're pretty fascist about it," says food writer Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi. "I've seen Bengali friends and others complain that they've tried to move somewhere and the building says, 'Oh, you are fish-eaters, you'll smell up the place, so we won't give you the apartment.'"

A menu by prominent restaurateur Sanjay Narang that included tandoori chicken and lamb curry ticked off neighbors in an apartment building on an exclusive boulevard fronting the Arabian Sea. Narang shuttered his ground-floor establishment in 2005 after residents above reportedly spat on his patrons, dropped nails on them or keyed their cars.

So what's a global food and beverage behemoth to do in such circumstances?

If you're Starbucks which seems intent on cracking every lucrative Indian market you go with the flow.

The coffee chain's new outpost off palm-fringed Marine Drive doesn't sell the local-style club sandwiches or murg kathi wraps flatbreads stuffed with spiced chicken found at dozens of other Starbucks in India. The brightly lighted display case contains only meatless fare: a hummus and pita platter, a spicy red bean sandwich, a mushroom and sun-dried tomato filling on ciabatta.

There are no potatoes, onions or omelets in sight, either, in deference to Jains, who eschew not only meat but also eggs and root vegetables plucked from beneath the earth. Muffins, cakes and pastries made with egg are clearly labeled, in keeping with Indian law.

"It's a Jain area," explained Sanjay, a young barista. "Their preference."

Starbucks' Indian office did not respond to questions. But the menu is clearly in line with snack shops and ice cream stalls in the neighborhood that bill themselves as "100% pure veg," including doughnuts that come in eggless varieties.

Read more:
Mumbai's strictly vegetarian enclave gives flesh-eaters the evil eye

DENVER Options for meat substitutes have come a long way since Seth Tibbotts first few Thanksgivings as vegetarian in the 1970s.

Vegetable side dishes and salads were nice but they didnt seem as festive as a turkey, the traditional centerpiece of the Thanksgiving table. The Oregon man tried all kinds of experiments, from a stuffed pumpkin to a gluten roast that took all day to make but was unsliceable and indigestible.

After becoming a professional soycrafter in 1980, Tibbott noticed that sales seemed to slow around Thanksgiving and Christmas as people lost their vegetarian ways and guiltily ate traditional fare like turkey, he said. Aside from tofu, which was primarily only sold in Asian markets, the only commercially available meat alternatives were made by Seventh Day Adventist companies, and many of these products were canned.

I subsisted on a diet of homemade items like pressure-cooked soybeans and tortillas, soy grit burgers, bread and granola, he said.

Over the years, fake meat or what some call plant-based meat grew to include burgers, hot dogs and ground beef. But poultry was still a relatively untapped niche, especially when it came to holiday centerpieces. With the help of Portland sandwich maker Hans Wrobel, Tibbott came up with the first Tofurky Roasts in 1995 and sold them in the Pacific Northwest.

Tofurkey has became a punchline on shows like Jay Leno and The X-Files. In homes across the country, families have begrudgingly ceded a space on the table to vegetarian relatives. But Tibbott is laughing all the way to the bank as his fake turkey product enters its 20th season this Thanksgiving. The company says that more than 3.4 million Tofurky Roasts have been sold since 1995, and several competitors have emerged, creating more tasty bird-free roast options than ever for the holidays.

With its torpedo shape and spongy, loaf-like consistency, the Tofurkey and its competitors are a far gobble from a real bird. But add some stuffing and gravy and you have a comparable substitute for a Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Its that traditional centerpiece, that protein source, that acts as the main dish. A roast brings that taste and texture of turkey that we associate with Thanksgiving, vegan food blogger Bianca Phillips said.

Flavor without the questions

To eat meat substitutions or not is a perennial topic of debate among vegetarians and vegans, especially as mainstream demand for meatless options grows. Some meat substitutes contain processed ingredients, additives and preservatives, adding up to a fake hot dog thats not much healthier than a real hot dog.

View post:
20 years of Tofurky: Why people eat fake meat