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Thursday 24 April 2014

Vegan diets & financial cost by Julie Bowen


A common misconception about the vegan diet is that it severely lacks protein and, as we all know, protein is the building blocks of muscle and therefore essential to building them. However, any vegan will know that nuts and soy are equally good sources of protein and good fats. Many diets are aimed at those willing to spend vast amounts of money to make the problem – their fat – disappear. However, for most, these prices are extortionate and unnecessary. Finding the cheapest diets to burn fat, while maintaining muscle is essential to getting the chiselled body you want.


The Paleo – or Caveman – diet is a regime that’s being talked about excessively in the weight loss community. Although at £2.60 per meal there are probably cheaper ways of losing fat, the method is actually incredibly sensible. The ethos of this diet is to eat only what you would find in the wild, in theory, like our ancestors used to. This means no processed sugars or fats, mainly nuts, grains, fruit and vegetables. If weight lifting on this diet, as soy traditionally needs to be processed before it’s consumed, it might be sensible to also use a vegan protein powder as insurance so that you don’t have to rely on the protein in the other sources alone.

Additionally a vegetarian diet without the animal products – a well-rounded, clean vegan diet – is excellent for weight loss in itself and very cheap at only around £1.40 per meal. Non-processed, simple foods like nuts, fruit, rice, non-starchy vegetables, beans, pulses and grains are all excellent for your body and when portion controlled in exercised, can help your body shred fat and retrain muscle at a low price.

[Editors note:  Just so you know, the editors of the blog do not consider the paleo diet as "incredibly sensible" as there appears to be links with cardiovascular disease & a host of other problems with the diet, as well as the ethic issues of course]


Sunday 20 April 2014

REVIEW: Viridian Liquid vitamin D, Cherry Night, High potency magnesium

I have recently been trying out a few products from Viridian Vitamins.  These aren't like caffeine or other stim-type products, they won't really create huge differences, but if you have issues in that area help create an environment where you get slow, steady improvement over time, so do not expect to take these & have the workout of your life, but you could be getting better recovery, better performance over time, less sickness & improved mental well being. With all that said let's crack on with the reviews.

Liquid vitamin D

This is a change from many vitamin D products as it comes in a liquid form with a dropper.  This means that you can take as much or as little as you need without the hassle of gulping down tablets or capsules.  The liquid is also flavoured with a really fantastic tasting natural orange flavour.  It goes well with shakes if you prefer to mix it into that, but is also fine to pop straight into the mouth (if you like orange it is pretty awesome just swilling it around the mouth on its own).  It is also a vegan D3 form of the vitamin.

Cherry night

This was a totally new product for me.  It is a cherry-based product with magnesium & date extract in it. Cherries have been known for a while to aid in reducing inflammation & this product is a recovery, sleep aid product.  With better recovery you will perform better so if you are likely to have stress in your life or recovery could be an issue then this product could be one to try out, you take it before bedtime & then reap the benefits as your recovery improves.

High potency magnesium

Magnesium is an important electrolyte, it is also involved in everything from bone health to muscle synthesis, so it is an important mineral.  Viridians product is unusual as it contains no fillers.  All it contains is magnesium & a capsule.  It is tasteless as you swallow a capsule, but it is good to know that you are only taking in magnesium & a little cellulose (the capsule is made from cellulose).

Overview

So, that is my view on these supplements.  If your recovery is going fine & inflammation is low you may not cherry night, if you get out in the sun & live towards the equator then maybe vitamin D isn't necessary, or if you eat a load of magnesium-rich foods then you might not need the magnesium pill.  But if you feel you may benefit from any of these, then check out Viridian Vitamins.

Thursday 3 April 2014

Sabina Skala personal trainer

Profile of vegan personal trainer Sabina Skala can be found here...

Brighton Vegfest 2014

Check out our day at the vegfest here...