George Laraque Habs Vegan Update
Big Georges has finally given us an update on his blog and is indeed still following the vegan diet. Georges is feeling awesome and the Montreal Canadiens are looking like they are going to be a strong contender in the 2009-10 NHL season.
I had planned on doing some spotlight posts on other 'famous' athletic vegans, but it's hockey season in Canada (actually, hockey season is 12 months a year in Canada...) and Georges is on the television at the moment taking on the Edmonton Oilers. So, I felt it was time for a follow-up to my previous post on the big man.
Just last week, Georges and the team were actually in my little town (Orangeville, ON, CA) for a few evenings. There is a christian sports camp just to the south of town that often hosts professional and international amateur hockey teams for mini-camps and retreats. Teen Ranch is also host to yours truly twice a week for shinny hockey that comes really close to the level of the Canadiens! I was sent a hazy cell phone picture of Georges from the local bowling alley, where the team went for some leisure activities on one of the evenings - the man was a block away from my house.
In his latest blog post, I was impressed to hear that the team caterers not only provide him with vegan food at the rink, but make extra for anyone else to consume. Apparently, the reception has been quite positive and teammates are surprised at how tasty the vegan options are. Teammate, Mike Cammalleri, is reportedly a yoga enthusiast and I predict with his open mind, will be the next to follow Georges' diet choice.
Big Georges is only in his 5th game of the gruelling 82 game schedule and has only engaged in one fight but I'm expecting big things this year on his and the team's march to the Stanley Cup - I already have them finishing first in the their division in my official 09-10 predictions posted here.
To read Georges latest blog entry, click here.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Achilles Pain - An Old Nemesis Makes Its Return
Achilles Pain - An Old Nemesis Makes Its Return
I've had bouts with Achilles pain before. At times, it was to the point of not being able to run for a long period of time. I learned that the root cause was weak, tight calves and over-training. I learned to stretch, did calf raises and didn't try to make each and every training run my longest and fastest.
For a few years, I found that balancing running and cycling was a great treatment for the problem and eventually it disappeared and until this week hadn't been an issue for about 10 years. I also took glucosamine sulfate supplements for a long period of time. Whether the glucosamine actually had an effect, I guess I will never really know, but it obviously didn't make things worse as the problem did, in fact, go away.
Two runs ago, while on a leisurely trail run at a park called Monora Park at the north end of my town, my left achilles started to make its presence known. The trails are by no means mountain material, but there are a few steep hills and I think that they were the biggest suspect.
Last night, I had heal pain for most of my 9.7km run and this morning and throughout the day, I walked with a noticeable limp. After playing hockey tonight, at which I played the full 60 minutes as there were no substitute players, the pain had actually gone away.
My big concern is that in 7 days, I'm running 25km around Fanshawe Lake in London, Ontario. It is a trail run, however, hills are at a premium and the course is fairly flat. Hopefully, Mother Nature will finally turn the tap off on Southern Ontario and there won't be much running through mud on Saturday.
My plan is to keep away from running for a couple of days and then try some light running. If it feels good, that's great. If the pain returns, I'll shut it down until Saturday and hope for the best.
Here's a little primer on Achilles Tendinitis:
What causes it?
I've had bouts with Achilles pain before. At times, it was to the point of not being able to run for a long period of time. I learned that the root cause was weak, tight calves and over-training. I learned to stretch, did calf raises and didn't try to make each and every training run my longest and fastest.
For a few years, I found that balancing running and cycling was a great treatment for the problem and eventually it disappeared and until this week hadn't been an issue for about 10 years. I also took glucosamine sulfate supplements for a long period of time. Whether the glucosamine actually had an effect, I guess I will never really know, but it obviously didn't make things worse as the problem did, in fact, go away.
Two runs ago, while on a leisurely trail run at a park called Monora Park at the north end of my town, my left achilles started to make its presence known. The trails are by no means mountain material, but there are a few steep hills and I think that they were the biggest suspect.
Last night, I had heal pain for most of my 9.7km run and this morning and throughout the day, I walked with a noticeable limp. After playing hockey tonight, at which I played the full 60 minutes as there were no substitute players, the pain had actually gone away.
My big concern is that in 7 days, I'm running 25km around Fanshawe Lake in London, Ontario. It is a trail run, however, hills are at a premium and the course is fairly flat. Hopefully, Mother Nature will finally turn the tap off on Southern Ontario and there won't be much running through mud on Saturday.
My plan is to keep away from running for a couple of days and then try some light running. If it feels good, that's great. If the pain returns, I'll shut it down until Saturday and hope for the best.
Here's a little primer on Achilles Tendinitis:
What causes it?
- Rapid increase in training.
- Improperly stretched calf muscles.
- Weak calf muscles.
- Improper footwear.
- Lack of rest and recovery.
How can it be prevented?
- Do calf muscle strengthening excercises.
- Always stretch before running.
- Shorten your stride.
- Do hill training.
What are the symptoms?
- Pain between the base of the heel and the calf muscle.
- Lump may appear just above heel as a result of scar tissue build-up.
- Swelling over the achilles tendon.
- Redness over the tendon.
- Creaking when moving the ankle.
How can it be treated?
- Stay off your feet! Up to two weeks without running may be necessary - or even more.
- Apply ice directly to the swollen spot.
- Put a pad or insert in the heel of your shoe to lessen the strain on the tendon.
- Light calf raises after the pain has subsided.
- Light stretching after the pain has subsided - no stretching while the pain is still there - this just aggravates the problem.
- Try glucosamine sulfate. Unfortunately, the effects of glucosamine only kick in after around 60 days of continuous daily use.
- Keep up the fluid intake and make sure your nutritional intake is more than adequate.
The important thing is to listen to your body and stop the abuse at the first sign of an injury like this or any other injury for that matter.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Random Thoughts About Veganism
It occurred to me today that, according to Star Trek, everyone travelling through space in or after the 24th century would essentially be a vegan. All food aboard the Enterprise, or any Federation craft for that matter, is created via a replicator. Therefore, all food is synthetic and does not come from the dead flesh of an animal. Therefore, the whole issue of to be or not to be vegan is pretty much a non-issue in the years to come - as long as everything that we see in Star Trek today does, in fact, come true.
I am a fan of the franchise, especially Next Generation, but I am no Trekkie. I ventured out into the world of the Trekkies in cyberspace today and found that there is still meat consumed on the Enterprise. Captain Picard, despite his greatness, had an issue with replicated caviar and always kept his personal supply of real, dead fish eggs on board. I seem to also recall that the crew were periodically given certain delicacies from strange planets and at times it was the flesh of a dead being.
All in all, the crews of the many Enterprise ships can pretty much be classified as vegan.
This got me thinking about space exploration in reality. There is a push on to explore beyond our planet. The logical next steps would be manned missions to Mars and beyond. If Earthlings were to colonize Mars or some other planet, moon, asteroid, I don't believe it would make any sense to take farm animals along for the ride and have them luxuriously feed on the limited food supplies available.
It seems to me that the only way we are going to leave this planet is by moving to a plant based diet. Think about it: just the extra antibiotics and veterinarian supplies alone would take up a massive amount of space. Not to mention, one or two crew would have to be veterinarians. Plants might easily adapt to an environment unlike our own whereas farm animals are as fragile as us. Plants are definitely the key to interstellar travel. Hell, maybe even when we try to plant our plants in some distant alien soil, the plants will interact with the new soil and become something more powerful than us and become the new 'masters of the universe'.
Back to Earth for a moment. I've just been reading a few articles (more like debates) about whether cigarettes are vegan. The reasoning behind it is that a number of cigarette companies test their product on animals. The sickest thing I read was that they sometimes cut holes into animals' throats and force the smoke in.
I'm by no means a 'smoker'. However, on the rarest of occasions, when drinking a few vegan-friendly beers with friends who do smoke, I have been know to light up a cigarette or on the best of occasions, light up a Cuban. At these times, I don't feel that I've betrayed my vegan commitment. I do, however, feel that I've betrayed my good-health commitment to myself - especially the next morning.
I am going to continue to look into this one. If anyone has any information or opinion on this topic or the science fiction ideas above, I would love to hear from you!
I am a fan of the franchise, especially Next Generation, but I am no Trekkie. I ventured out into the world of the Trekkies in cyberspace today and found that there is still meat consumed on the Enterprise. Captain Picard, despite his greatness, had an issue with replicated caviar and always kept his personal supply of real, dead fish eggs on board. I seem to also recall that the crew were periodically given certain delicacies from strange planets and at times it was the flesh of a dead being.
All in all, the crews of the many Enterprise ships can pretty much be classified as vegan.
This got me thinking about space exploration in reality. There is a push on to explore beyond our planet. The logical next steps would be manned missions to Mars and beyond. If Earthlings were to colonize Mars or some other planet, moon, asteroid, I don't believe it would make any sense to take farm animals along for the ride and have them luxuriously feed on the limited food supplies available.
It seems to me that the only way we are going to leave this planet is by moving to a plant based diet. Think about it: just the extra antibiotics and veterinarian supplies alone would take up a massive amount of space. Not to mention, one or two crew would have to be veterinarians. Plants might easily adapt to an environment unlike our own whereas farm animals are as fragile as us. Plants are definitely the key to interstellar travel. Hell, maybe even when we try to plant our plants in some distant alien soil, the plants will interact with the new soil and become something more powerful than us and become the new 'masters of the universe'.
Back to Earth for a moment. I've just been reading a few articles (more like debates) about whether cigarettes are vegan. The reasoning behind it is that a number of cigarette companies test their product on animals. The sickest thing I read was that they sometimes cut holes into animals' throats and force the smoke in.
I'm by no means a 'smoker'. However, on the rarest of occasions, when drinking a few vegan-friendly beers with friends who do smoke, I have been know to light up a cigarette or on the best of occasions, light up a Cuban. At these times, I don't feel that I've betrayed my vegan commitment. I do, however, feel that I've betrayed my good-health commitment to myself - especially the next morning.
I am going to continue to look into this one. If anyone has any information or opinion on this topic or the science fiction ideas above, I would love to hear from you!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The Many Benefits of Hot Peppers
Before I was 21, my idea of spicy was a dash of black pepper. Then I spent a few nights on Bourbon Street in New Orleans and my eating habits changed forever. Peppers, or Capsicum, have become such a huge part of my dietary life and are so for many cultures around the world. Interestingly enough, black pepper, the spice I once thought would send smoke shooting out my ears, is not of the Capsicum family at all. It is the product of a berry that is dried and ground down. The nutritional benefits of black or white pepper is not nearly that of the Capsicum family, which ranges from the sweet green bell pepper to the fiery hot jabanero. I will get into more information about black and white pepper at a later date.
What makes Capsicums hot is a little chemical compound called capsaicin - I'm sure there's a tongue-twister or two out there involving these C-words. The 'hotness' of peppers is measured on the Scoville Scale. Bell or sweet peppers have a rating of zero on the Scoville Scale as they contain no capsaicin. A jabanero pepper has a rating of 200,000. This means the pepper would have to be diluted 200,000 times to reach a zero rating. By the way, the Jalapeno which most Canadians associate with really spicy food, hits the scale somewhere between 2500 and 8000.
Where Capsicums kick ass is in the vitamin C department. Jalapenos produce 66% of the RDA in a 90g serving. Sweet green peppers serve up a whopping 200% in a 149g serving. These stats are provided by NutritionData.com.
Benefits of hot peppers include:
What makes Capsicums hot is a little chemical compound called capsaicin - I'm sure there's a tongue-twister or two out there involving these C-words. The 'hotness' of peppers is measured on the Scoville Scale. Bell or sweet peppers have a rating of zero on the Scoville Scale as they contain no capsaicin. A jabanero pepper has a rating of 200,000. This means the pepper would have to be diluted 200,000 times to reach a zero rating. By the way, the Jalapeno which most Canadians associate with really spicy food, hits the scale somewhere between 2500 and 8000.
Where Capsicums kick ass is in the vitamin C department. Jalapenos produce 66% of the RDA in a 90g serving. Sweet green peppers serve up a whopping 200% in a 149g serving. These stats are provided by NutritionData.com.
Benefits of hot peppers include:
- Production of sweat leading to smoother skin.
- Lowers blood pressure.
- Contains major antioxidants.
- Acts as an anti-inflammatory.
- Can help in the treatment of colds and fevers.
- Can speed up metabolism and burn more calories thus acting as an aid in weight loss.
- Can trigger the release of endorphins.
- Can be beneficial for those suffering from diabetes.
- Improves digestion by increasing stomach secretions.
The most important benefit of any kind of pepper is that they truly make a meal great. A great website for make it yourself hot sauce recipes can be found here.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
How Strict is Strict?
"You know there was egg in that Vegetable Curry Pad Thai you just ate, right?"
Carnivores just love to catch us with statements like this. They say it with a sense of pride and accomplishment, like they've just brought you back down to earth to suffer with the rest of the chicken wing eating masses.
Whenever I find myself in a situation like this, it does happen - not often - but it does happen, I almost always immediately picture the character 'Silas' from the movie 'The DaVinci Code'. You know the one - an insanely strict catholic who is constantly whipping himself and digging all sorts of objects into his flesh.
Should I feel like that for inadvertently eating a product that I'm morally against and quite frankly repulsed by? The answer should be a big 'No'. I feel a little bad and it strengthens my resolve to avoid this situation in the future but by no means do I consider myself a killer of innocent animals. After all, I didn't walk up to a street-meat stand, order a big ol' greasy sausage, eat it then put my hand to my mouth, and shout, all wide-eyed, "Oh my god! I just ate the flesh of an innocent living being!"
I believe when it comes to eating out and putting your faith in the hands of some stranger, you take the chance of inadvertently eating something you didn't expect to. If you notice after it's too late you should merely take note, use it as a wisdom-gaining experience and remember not to order the same dish next time.
Please, when a situation like this happens to you, don't bring out the whip and draw the blood. But, don't stay silent. Inform others of what to look out for. Also, take note of what questions you can and should ask next time.
Now, if you've been duped into eating something that those around you know you are strongly against, I suppose your reaction should be quite different. Then again, if you have friends like that, you may want to reconsider who you hang out with!
In saying that we vegans should stick together and provide as much information to each other as possible, it would be great to hear from you on situations where animal products were inadvertently consumed.
Carnivores just love to catch us with statements like this. They say it with a sense of pride and accomplishment, like they've just brought you back down to earth to suffer with the rest of the chicken wing eating masses.
Whenever I find myself in a situation like this, it does happen - not often - but it does happen, I almost always immediately picture the character 'Silas' from the movie 'The DaVinci Code'. You know the one - an insanely strict catholic who is constantly whipping himself and digging all sorts of objects into his flesh.
Should I feel like that for inadvertently eating a product that I'm morally against and quite frankly repulsed by? The answer should be a big 'No'. I feel a little bad and it strengthens my resolve to avoid this situation in the future but by no means do I consider myself a killer of innocent animals. After all, I didn't walk up to a street-meat stand, order a big ol' greasy sausage, eat it then put my hand to my mouth, and shout, all wide-eyed, "Oh my god! I just ate the flesh of an innocent living being!"
I believe when it comes to eating out and putting your faith in the hands of some stranger, you take the chance of inadvertently eating something you didn't expect to. If you notice after it's too late you should merely take note, use it as a wisdom-gaining experience and remember not to order the same dish next time.
Please, when a situation like this happens to you, don't bring out the whip and draw the blood. But, don't stay silent. Inform others of what to look out for. Also, take note of what questions you can and should ask next time.
Now, if you've been duped into eating something that those around you know you are strongly against, I suppose your reaction should be quite different. Then again, if you have friends like that, you may want to reconsider who you hang out with!
In saying that we vegans should stick together and provide as much information to each other as possible, it would be great to hear from you on situations where animal products were inadvertently consumed.
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