SUMMARY

Typically, peanut butter is made entirely with plant-based ingredients. However, check the label — some companies may include honey (which isn’t vegan) in their ingredient list.

Fresh N’ Lean is the nation’s largest organic meal delivery service. Our tasty, chef-prepared cuisine is always fresh and never frozen, and we offer five convenient meal plans: Protein+, Keto, Paleo, Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan. Choose Fresh N’ Lean for affordable nutrition, delivered to your doorstep. 

If you’re wondering whether or not peanut butter is vegan, you’ve come to the right place.

The easy answer is, yes. Peanut butter is vegan. But sometimes it’s not that clear-cut.

There are a lot of hidden animal products in so many of the foods that we eat. Milk, butter, and honey are so pervasive in the creamy sweet foods that we eat that sometimes it can feel as if there’s nothing left for those of us that are vegan.

Although peanut butter is usually safe for vegans, sometimes, you have to watch out for additional ingredients.

Is Peanut Butter Vegan-Friendly?

As we’ve said previously, yes, peanut butter is vegan-friendly.

Most kinds of peanut butter are a simple combination of peanuts, oil, and salt. Some peanut butter mixes will contain added sugar but most kinds of peanut butter are totally safe for a vegan diet.

Despite peanut butter’s name, there is no actual butter in peanut butter.

So if you’re looking to get some extra protein in your vegan diet, peanut butter will make it really easy.

However, there are some ingredients you’ll want to still watch out for.

What Non-Vegan Ingredients Are In Peanut Butter?

Some kinds of peanut butter add honey instead of sugar to their recipes. If you’re a vegetarian this is obviously not a problem, but if you’re vegan then anything that contains animal products is instantly off limits.

It isn’t very common for companies to add honey to peanut butter, but if you’re going to buy some honey, you might as well double check just to be safe.

What Are Some Good Vegan Recipes That Use Peanut Butter?

Peanut butter is absolutely amazing. It’s a great ingredient to add in either a dessert or breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes. Peanuts and peanut butter are also great ways to get protein.

Here are a couple of fantastic, vegan recipes that we just know you’ll love.

Tofu Peanut Lettuce Wraps – This might sound strange at first but peanuts are actually incredibly common in different kinds of Asian cuisines. These delicious tofu peanut lettuce wraps are low on calories, but full of protein and flavor. The bell pepper, mushrooms, water chestnuts, soy sauce, maple syrup, peanut butter, rice vinegar, and spicy chili sauce make for an interesting combination. We just know you’ll love if you try it.

Get the recipe here.

No-cook Peanut Butter Fudge – Sometimes you don’t need a full-blown meal and just need a tasty vegan snack or dessert. This healthy, no-cook, peanut butter fudge is just the thing you need in cases like those. This fudge only takes 12 minutes to prep but it 2 hours to freeze and set, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to make it.

Get the recipe here.

Soba Noodle Bowl – Soba is a Japanese noodle made of buckwheat flour. Combine soba with some vegetables, peanut sauce, and marinated tofu, and you have a deliciously healthy meal that’s great for either lunch or dinner. This means is equal parts sweet, citrusy, and spicy. The tofu and peanuts make for an excellent source of protein as well.

Get the recipe here.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes – There are few combinations in this world that are better than chocolate and peanut butter. And luckily, if you have the right ingredients, you can still enjoy this flavor combination while vegan. This recipe takes approximately 30 minutes to make and comes with another recipe for a peanut butter caramel sauce which is absolutely amazing.

Get the recipe here.

Peanut Butter Noodles – Here’s another delicious Asian-inspired peanuts, noodles and vegetable dish which is just fantastic. The peanut butter, soy sauce, sriracha, sesame oil, lime juice, garlic, ginger, peppers, cilantro, and peanuts make for a fantastic flavor profile that you’ll just love.

Get the recipe here.

Use Fresh n’ Lean And Never Worry About Vegan Meals Again

Although you could check the ingredient list for each and every product you’re thinking of buying at the grocery store, there is a better, easier way to do veganism.

Fresh n’ Lean offers a delicious vegan meal delivery system that helps you have ready-to-eat vegan meals delivered to your door. All of our meals are nutritious, organic, in-season, tasty, and vegan. That means they’re dairy-free, meat-free, honey-free, and low in fat.

If you are looking for an easy, affordable way to maintain a vegan diet, Fresh n’ Lean is the way to go.

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SUMMARY

Clean eating is a method for achieving a healthier lifestyle where you try to put a little more mindfulness into your food choices. Our list of clean eating recipes includes choices such as baked eggs with herbs and vegetable hash with poached eggs.

Fresh N’ Lean is the nation’s largest organic meal delivery service. Our tasty, chef-prepared cuisine is always fresh and never frozen, and we offer five convenient meal plans: Protein+, Keto, Paleo, Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan. Choose Fresh N’ Lean for affordable nutrition, delivered to your doorstep. 

Clean eating is a growing trend in the world of dieting.

In this article, we’ll look at what cleaning eating is and we’ll share some great clean eating recipes with you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well.

What Is Clean Eating?

Clean eating is a diet, but not in the sense of a short-term diet to lose weight. Clean eating is a method for achieving a healthier lifestyle where you try to put a little more mindfulness into your food choices.

There are a couple of basic principles to clean eating which include:

Eat more real foods – There’s a lot of artificial stuff in foods now. Part of clean eating includes getting rid of those fake foods and replacing them with natural, wholesome foods instead. If you’re wondering what it means to eat real food, think of most of the foods offered around the perimeter of the grocery store, instead of the food found in the aisles.

Eat for nourishment – A lot of people eat for taste or to feel full. Clean eating isn’t about starving yourself, but it’s not about eating whatever you can get your hands on to fill your stomach. If you’re clean eating, you’ll want to choose foods that have lots of vitamins and minerals. If you’re going to eat, you might as well feed your body and not just your stomach.

Eat plant-based foods – Fruits and vegetables have more vitamins, minerals, and fiber in them. That means they’re more filling, more nutritious, and better for you. Beans, lentils, peas, veggies, and fruit are all clean foods worth eating.

Live clean – Another part of clean living is clean eating. Proper exercise and sleep are just as important to a clean eater as the actual eating is. If you want to live a clean life, things like mindfulness, meditation, and stress management are all important as well.

If the above suggestions aren’t specific enough for you, just follow the advice below.

If you want to live and eat clean, make sure you eat:

• Fruits and vegetables
• Whole grains
• Less meat
• Less processed foods
• Less added sugar
• Less sodium

Also make sure you:

• Pick environmentally friendly food options
• Practice stress management
• Get enough sleep
• Drink plenty of quality water
• Exercise
• Surround yourself with happy, healthy relationships

Once you understand the basics to clean eating you can then move on to meal planning and cooking clean and delicious clean eating recipes.

Clean Eating Recipes

Below we’ve compiled a couple of breakfast, lunch and dinner-for-two clean eating recipes that we’re sure you will enjoy.

Clean Eating Breakfasts

1. Mixed Berry Cobbler Smoothies

A smoothie is a great way to eat fruits and vegetables first thing in the morning. The mixed berry cobbler smoothie contains almond milk, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and Medjool dates. You can also use hemp seed milk or coconut milk if you’d prefer that.

This smoothie is super easy to meal prep for and takes very little time to make.

There are a variety of smoothie recipes you can try out besides the mixed berry cobbler smoothie. Fitness Magazine also has recipes like Spinach and Avocado, Banana Cream Pie, Chocolate Chia Cherry, Peach Milkshake, Banana and Coconut Water, Berry Flaxseed and Pomegranate, and Mellow Yellow Protein.

You can get all eight of these recipes here.

2. Pumpkin Papaya Superfood Acai Bowl

This clean and delicious acai bowl is perfect for those looking to eat clean for breakfast. It contains pumpkin, papaya, acai smoothie, banana, maca, cinnamon or pumpkin spice, and almond milk.

Get the recipe here.

3. Baked Eggs With Herbs

If you’re looking for a bit more protein or savor in your breakfast, this Baked Eggs With Herbs with eggs recipe is the way to go.

All you need is eggs, milk, chives, basil, salt, and pepper. If you’re looking to really avoid extra salt you can obviously skip the salt altogether. This dish takes about 15 minutes to bake but it’s so easy to put together.

Find the recipe here.

Clean And Delicious Lunches

1. Zucchini Noodle Salad With Smoky Chipotle Dressing

This zucchini noodle salad takes about 30 minutes to make but you get four servings. In other words, you get 4 lunches worth of clean eating. You’ll need red onion, lime juice, zucchini, Roma tomatoes, radishes, corn, olive oil, greek yogurt, chipotle chiles, adobo, adobo sauce, apple cider vinegar, honey, sea salt, black pepper, avocados, feta, and roasted pumpkin seeds.

Get the full recipe here.

2. Spicy Sweet Chicken & Peach Salad With Honeyed Pecans

This sweet and spicy chicken and peach salad is absolutely amazing. It’s full of flavor and full of nutrition. You’ll need Boston lettuce, grilled chicken, sugar snap peas, roasted red pepper, peaches, Sriracha balsamic vinaigrette, honeyed pecans, shredded cheddar.

Obviously, you can replace the chicken with a properly cooked and seasoned tofu if you want or just leave it off the salad entirely. It’s important to remember that the clean eating diet wants you to reduce your animal protein, but that doesn’t mean you have to get rid of it entirely unless you want to.

Get the recipe here.

Clean Eating Dinner Ideas For Two

1. Arugula, Grape, And Sunflower Seed Salad

This is a fairly simple salad that is great to split between two people if both are in the mood for a large, dinner salad. You’ll need red wine vinegar, honey, maple syrup, stone-ground mustard, grapeseed oil, baby arugula, red grapes, sunflower seed kernels, thyme, salt, and ground pepper.

You can find the complete recipe here.

2. Vegetable Hash With Poached Eggs

Who doesn’t love a good hash? This vegetable hash has everything you love about hash without all of the grease and unnecessary sodium. You’ll need olive oil, sweet onions, red potatoes, herbes de Provence, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, kosher salt (if necessary,) black pepper, tomato, chives, parsley, white vinegar, eggs, and parmesan.

You can get the recipe here.

Make Clean Eating Easier

If this sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is. Sure, you can meal prep and that will make it easier, but you still have to shop, prepare, cook, and clean every single meal if you’re looking to eat clean.

Unless you have Fresh n’ Lean.

Fresh n’ Lean is a healthy food delivery service which will bring you healthy, clean eating meals right to your front door. All of our food is low-sodium, dairy-free, organic, and mostly plant-based. You’ll be hard-pressed to find an easier, healthier, or tastier option than Fresh n’ Lean anywhere else.

Come check out our menu and see what we have to offer.

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Fresh N’ Lean is the nation’s largest organic meal delivery service. Our tasty, chef-prepared cuisine is always fresh and never frozen, and we offer five convenient meal plans: Protein+, Keto, Paleo, Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan. Choose Fresh N’ Lean for affordable nutrition, delivered to your doorstep. 

Mangoes are a delicious stone fruit that sometimes can be kind of tricky to peel and cut.

In this article, we will help you learn how to tell if a mango is ripe and how to cut a mango. We’ll even share some tasty mango recipes you can easily make at home.

How To Tell If A Mango Is Ripe

Before you even think about cutting into a mango, you have to make sure that it’s ripe first. Although there are delicious ways to eat green mangoes, if you’re looking for that ripe mango taste, you’ll be deeply disappointed if you cut into your mango before it’s ready.

Yellow mangoes usually start out as a light green color. When they’re this color they’re usually quite sour, almost bitter. The mango will eventually start to turn yellow and red. At this point, the fruit will taste more tart than sour. Eventually, the entire mango will turn yellow. This is a sign that the mango is at a point where its fruit will taste sweet. The mango will eventually turn a darker yellow and the fruit will be as sweet as it will ever be before it starts to go bad.

It’s important to remember that there are different types of mangoes, and not all will turn yellow when ripe. The color might not be the clearest sign for ripeness.

A better way to determine the ripeness of a mango is by touch. A rock-hard mango is not yet ripe. It will probably taste either sour or tart, but a soft mango will taste much sweeter. Better yet, try to squeeze the mango and see if you smell a sweet scent coming from either stem-end. When you can smell a mango’s sweetness it means that it is definitely ready to be eaten.

Once your mango is ripe, you can cut it.

Best Ways To Cut A Mango

There are a few ways to cut a mango. Below are five quick and easy ways it can be done.

Strategy 1 – The Old-fashioned Method

To cut a mango the old-fashioned way you first have to skin it. You can either do that with a knife like they used to do in the old days of the military or you can use a potato peeler.

Once you have your mango peeled, place the wider end of your mango on the cutting board. Place your knife on the topmost tip of your mango and cut straight down until you hit the large pit. Once you’ve come in contact with the pit, slowly angle your knife away from the center and cut as much of the fruit away from the seed as possible without cutting the seed as well. Once you’ve done this for one side of your mango, repeat the process to the other side.

At this point, you’ll have two halves of mango fruit which you can then cut into smaller apple slice-like pieces.

Strategy 2 – The Hedgehog Method

This method is similar to the old-fashioned method because you’ll be cutting your mango into two pieces. Unlike strategy #1 however, you don’t need to peel the mango. Instead, leave the peel on as you cut your mango halves.

Once you have your two halves, cut lines both horizontally and vertically into the fruit without letting your knife pierce the skin of the mango. After you’re done making your cuts, you can press the mango skin and flip the fruit so it is jutting out of the skin.

This is a great method if you’re looking to keep your fruit contained, yet easily accessible.

Simply cut a cube of mango whenever you want and leave the rest attached to the skin.

Strategy 3 – The Mango Splitter Method

Technology has made lots of things easier, including cutting mangoes. If you go to your local home goods store they’ll most likely have a mango splitter that you can buy that takes most of the work out of cutting mangoes. Use the splitter to cut open the mango and use your knife to cut the fruit.

Strategy 4 – The Drinking Glass Method

This is an efficient way to cut mangoes, especially if you have to cut a batch of mangoes for your Sunday meal prep. Cut your mango in half, then scoop out the fruit using a drinking glass.

Strategy 5 – The X Peeling Method

Using your knife, lightly cut an X mark at the top of the mango. Use your fingers to peel the skin in each direction. Then, simply cut and slice your mango.

Easy Mango Recipes

Mango is such a delicious and versatile fruit. It adds a sweetness and flavor that tastes good in almost any dish. Below are just a few of the more unique dishes you can make with mango.

Give one of them a try!

• Fruity black rice salad with cilantro, avocado, and pepitas in chili-orange vinaigrette
• Chicken, kiwi, and mango salad
• Mango honey jalapeno chimichurri
• Rice pudding with ginger, amaranth, and mango
• Chicken in coconut mango verde sauce
• Mango mousse pie

Fresh n’ Lean Makes Eating Easier

If you’d rather skip the planning, meal preparation, cooking, and cleaning involved with all of these dishes, you could simply order Fresh n’ Lean.

Fresh n’ Lean is a meal prep service that delivers you fresh, in-season meals right to your front door. All of our food is healthy, organic, vegan-friendly, and nutritious. Maybe just as important however is that every single Fresh n’ Lean meal is tasty. Try our menu and make eating fun, easy, and delicious again.

The post How to Cut a Mango appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

Fresh N’ Lean is the nation’s largest organic meal delivery service. Our tasty, chef-prepared cuisine is always fresh and never frozen, and we offer five convenient meal plans: Protein+, Keto, Paleo, Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan. Choose Fresh N’ Lean for affordable nutrition, delivered to your doorstep. 

For those of you who still have doubts about whether one can train as a “serious” athlete while following a vegan diet plan, we’d like to introduce calisthenics expert, fitness trainer and athlete Frank Medrano.

Frank is one of the many bodybuilders and super athletes that have busted the vegan athlete myth wide open.

Frank eats a low-fat diet rich in plant-based protein and fiber and steers clear of all meat and dairy. He says his meals are enriched with an abundance of superfoods and some of his favorite foods are vegetables.

We wholeheartedly agree that the variety of colors, shapes, flavors and textures as well as their health benefits should put veggies at the top of any vegan’s favorite foods list.

“Stay humble, be positive, support anyone who decides to put in their best effort to better themselves. We ALL started at the bottom…I’m impressed with ANYONE who decides to challenge themselves to be a better person at ANY level.”

Frank fell in love with calisthenics training at a time in his life when his body was in poor shape and he even felt embarrassed to take off his shirt. He felt constantly tired, slow and weak and that he knew his diet was only making things worse.

Since starting his training, Frank has inspired thousands of others around the world to follow their dreams by taking control of their minds, bodies and lives. His videos and interviews have appeared in five large media companies online including Right This Minute, Fitness Freaks, 9GAG, Free From Harm, and Collective Evolution.

Frank performs a plethora of insane muscle-building exercises every day using the resistance of his own body weight, and often his favorite pull-up bars, a brick wall, or simply a chair.

He says the beauty of calisthenics is in the simplicity—that all you really need is your own body. Unlike a gym, “your body never closes!”

Calisthenics can be done anytime, anywhere. “The point is, whenever you want an effective workout, you can have one…no matter where you are, you have an effective physical training method at your disposal.” He trains six days a week, up to 2 hours a day and loves how the practicality of the muscle strength he builds carries over into his everyday life.

Frank says the change in his diet did wonders to improving his lifestyle and advises that what you eat is one of the most important parts of getting in shape and becoming stronger—as an athlete as well as a human being. Frank says that living the way he does puts him in control of his mind and body, and the feeling he gets from that motivates him every day to challenge himself to continue to improve.

“My biggest accomplishment has been motivating and inspiring millions of people onto fitness and helping them making healthy changes in their lifestyle.”

Hearing their success stories and seeing their photos/videos on how I’ve helped them make that happen is priceless. Not only helping and motivating them to improve their health but also to improve their quality of life. That to me is my motivation to push harder.

Frank Medrano sets small and realistic goals for himself and pushes himself more every day. He says, “Being consistent is a necessity for progression and without it, motivation dies. I want to be in the best shape possible and my dedication and progression keep me motivated.”

Frank’s favorite fellow athlete and inspiration is vegan fitness competitor and model Nathane Jackson, “an inspiration to all that you can be super healthy, strong and build muscle on a healthy vegan diet.”

We’re proud of athletes like Frank Medrano and Nathane Jackson who have chosen to break the mold of mainstream fitness and choose a healthier, plant-based path.

It takes true strength of character to think outside a box so tightly built. But the proof is in the puddin’.

Today, hundreds of athletes and fitness freaks are building a better body and lifestyle for themselves entirely around a 100% plant-based diet. It’s possible all right. And it’s a wiser choice in the long run for anyone.

Find out how Fresh n’ Lean can help you take the first (or fiftieth) step down your journey to weight loss, fitness, or simply a healthier, better-feeling you. Our vegan meal delivery and vegetarian meal delivery service is an easy way to get more plant-based whole foods into your diet and improve your wellbeing. Not only will your body feel better, your mind will rest easy knowing you are investing in your short and long-term health. Plus, our freshly prepared meals are always completely vegan, gluten-free and taste amazing!

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What’s normally a staple in the fashion world suddenly becomes off limits if you want to go beyond dietary veganism. There are other options however for the environmentally-minded.

This article will go over what is vegan leather, why you should care about it, and the types of vegan leather options available to you.

Why Care About Leather?

For many people, veganism is about much more than diet.

Most people choose to go vegan because they do not believe in killing animals for meat or using them to make food. The general belief is, whether you’re using cows for their meat or for their milk, forcing them to live for our purposes is wrong or inhumane.

For some vegans, this means they won’t eat any animal products, but for others, it means they won’t use any animal products at all.

Not only do these vegans abstain from things like meat, fish, dairy, and honey, but they also avoid leather, fur, and certain types of supplements. These people don’t want to be vegan because veganism is healthier or because it’s an easy way to lose weight, these people want to be vegan because they believe that being vegan is natural.

If you want to become more than a dietary vegan, you’ll have to assess which parts of your life still need updates in order to become cruelty-free.

That includes your clothes.

That’s why vegans should care about vegan leather. Now, let’s explain the two most popular, vegan-friendly alternatives to leather.

Types of Vegan Leather

There are two different types of vegan leather.

There is polyvinyl chloride leather, also known as PVC leather, and polyurethane leather, also known as PU leather.

Although there are some differences between polyvinyl chloride and polyurethane leathers, both are colloquially knowns as pleather.

What is Polyvinyl Chloride Leather?

Polyvinyl chloride leather is the third most common synthetic plastic polymer in the world.

It’s a plastic material which comes in two forms, rigid and soft. Soft polyvinyl chloride leather is what’s used to make clothes.

PVC is water resistant, which makes it great for clothing items such as jackets, coats, and sports bags. It’s cheaper to produce than rubber, leather, and latex which makes it a great alternative to any of these textiles.

What is PU Leather?

Unlike PVC leather, polyurethane leather isn’t a plastic.

Instead, it’s a polymer made of various organic units. PU leather is used in a variety of materials including clothes and other textiles.

Spandex products, for example, are made out of polyurethane leather. It’s important to remember however that there is a difference between PU leather and PU-coated leather. PU-coated leather is real leather that has been coated with polyurethane.

Many stores don’t differentiate between the two kinds of “PU leather” so you have to look for words like “synthetic” or “vegan” when buying PU Leather. Chances are good that if it does not say that, it’s actual leather.

For Your Non-leather Needs, There’s Fresh n’ Lean

We can all make small changes to become a little more cruelty-free. Whether it’s abstaining from meat or avoiding animal-skin clothing, there is always something we can do. We hope this article is helpful in explaining the reason why you should care about cruelty-free, vegan-friendly leather. And we hope you understand a little more about PVC and PU Leather.

We may not be able to help you find a vegan-friendly pair of pleather pants, but we can help you eat right. Eating vegan can be expensive and time-consuming but it doesn’t have to be. At Fresh n’ Lean, our chefs make each and every one of our meals vegan-friendly, affordable, nutritious, and delicious.

Our meals are full of organic, nutritious, in-season ingredients. Every couple of months our menu changes to make sure that you are eating the best food the new season’s crops have to offer. Our food is always fresh and it’s always ready to eat. Our vegan meals are delivered right to your front door in individual containers so the only work you have to put into dinner is choose which meal you want to eat that night.

Veganism has never been so easy.

Try it today!

The post What is Vegan Leather? appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

Many of us grew up believing that milk was a necessary part of a healthy diet. We were told that milk and dairy products, in general, give us strong bones and keeps us healthy. Yet, a trend is growing in America of completely avoiding dairy.

What is this trend about? Is it healthy? Do doctors recommend it? What are the reasons to go dairy-free?

We don’t need dairy

As it turns out, it is completely healthy to go dairy-free.

Though dairy has some benefits, we don’t necessarily need it in our diets, even though it is often listed as a major food group.

Many of the health benefits found in dairy can be found in other foods.

This may take a bit of mind-stretching to change the way we think about what we eat, but here we’ll present facts and let you decide whether dairy is right for you.

Americans are drinking less milk

Looking at major food trends, the US Department of Agriculture finds that Americans drank 6% less milk in April 2017 than in April 2016, and this trend has been going for several years.

That’s about 78.8 million fewer pounds of milk in a single month.

The USDA also reported that the number of Americans drinking milk “decreased significantly” in 2010 compared to the 1970’s. Meanwhile, dairy substitutes like almond milk and soy products are growing. Plus, with the growth of veganism and diets like the Paleo diet, the trend of going dairy-free is only growing.

But before digging into the facts on dairy, let’s look at the dairy-free lifestyle and what it means.

What is Dairy-Free?

Dairy consists of all milk and its derived products.

This means cutting out not only milk, but cream, half-and-half, ice cream, yogurt, cheese, sour cream, butter, and kefir. Don’t forget about goat or sheep milk.

Many baked goods contain butter or cream, so it is important to check the ingredients when going dairy-free. Also, ask about the ingredients at restaurants if you are dairy-free. Many dips and sauces also contain dairy.

For some reason, many believe that eggs fall under dairy, probably since the idea of dairy products makes us think of farms. Eggs are not dairy, however, those many avoid eating eggs for their own reasons.

Dairy provides important nutrients, such as calcium, so avoiding it may require you to supplement your diet with other non-dairy high-calcium foods. Eat a lot of dark green leafy vegetables like collard greens and kale. Also eat sea vegetables, sardines, and salmon with the bone.

If you love dairy but want to go dairy-free, you may be worrying that you’ll miss some of your favorite dairy products. There are plenty of alternatives. You can use olive oil instead of butter, oat milk instead of regular milk, avocado instead of sour cream, or sorbet and banana ice cream instead of dairy ice cream.

Tofu is a great substitute for cheese, and mushrooms could take the place of the cheese on your pizza. Try using almond or soy milk as a substitute for animal milk, such as in smoothies.

The Truth About Dairy

For a long time, we have been told that dairy is good for you–even that it’s an essential part of your diet. Much of what we’ve heard about dairy has been so ingrained into us that it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. So let’s sort out the myths and find out what is true about dairy.

The USDA food pyramid is way outdated

Whatever your stance is on dairy, the food pyramid set forth by the USDA is not scientifically sound. Though it was embraced for years, many have called into question whether we really need three glasses of milk a day.

Dr. Walter Willett, M.D., Ph.D., head of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and the second-most-cited scientist in all of clinical science, is a huge critic of the USDA food pyramid. He even goes so far as to call it “utterly ridiculous.”

The fact is, many of the “experts” who put together the food pyramid actually worked in the dairy industry. Thus they had their industries, rather than the public interest, in mind.

If you’re looking for some guidance, check out MyPlate instead- It is basically an updated version of the pyramid, but provides a more practical and accurate representation of what we should eat.

Dairy is not the magical answer to strong bones

Though the idea remains a popular belief, drinking milk will not guarantee the disappearance of the risk of you breaking your bones! In fact, the Nurses’ Health Study did a 12-year study on over 77,000 women setting out to prove whether drinking 2 or more glasses of milk, instead of 1 glass, helps reduce bone fractures. They found the opposite was true. Those who drank more milk were 50% more likely to get bone fractures.

Although components of dairy, such as calcium, are believed to gives us strong bones, many parts of the world where dairy is consumed much less–like Asia and Africa–have the lowest incidence of osteoporosis.

Benefits of Going Dairy-Free

Now that we’ve uncovered some facts about dairy, we’re left wondering what are the health benefits of going dairy-free. So let’s take some time to delve into the dairy-free diet and see how it can improve one’s health.

Cutting dairy could lead to weight loss

A lot of foods fall under dairy. Ice cream and milk chocolate all the way to fat-free cottage cheese are dairy. So will cutting it entirely cause weight loss? The answer is yes.

Though many of us enjoy a filling slice of cheese, it’s little secret that cutting dairy will lead to weight loss. Especially cutting treats like whole-milk products and replacing them with nut milk will greatly increase your chances of burning fat and losing weight.

If you absolutely must have some dairy in your diet, make sure to avoid full-fat milk. We talked about saturated fat last week, something to limit and avoid if you can. Saturated fat leads to unhealthy cholesterol. Whole milk contains lots of saturated fat, so we recommend going for skim or fat-free milk.

Going dairy-free may clear your skin

Many studies show that increased dairy consumption can actually lead to more acne in the skin, especially in teens. A lot of people report that their skin clears up after they cut dairy from their diet. Why would dairy affect the presence of acne? Some believe it’s the presence of growth hormones in milk, while others point to the spikes in sugar and insulin upon consuming lactose.

Most people are lactose intolerant

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re lactose intolerant. According to the NIH, 65% of the world’s population has a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy. If you are one of them, consuming dairy could cause you to have gas, bloating, cramps, or diarrhea. But what is lactose intolerance, exactly?

Lactase is an enzyme in your body that helps you digest lactose, the primary sugar found in dairy. Lactose intolerance is a result of having enough of the enzyme lactase to digest dairy correctly. So if you are lactose intolerant, it’s worth avoiding dairy altogether.

Consuming less dairy may help your digestion

Many suffer from lactose intolerance, so it’s understandable they would want to avoid dairy. But even for those without lactose intolerance, lactose can have a huge impact on irritable bowel syndrome. Not fun. Many report stomach bloating and cramps drop significantly when cutting dairy.

If you can’t live without dairy, many products are much lower in lactose than others, such as aged cheese. Some dairy products are even infused with the enzyme lactase to make it easier to digest.

We should also point out that dairy is very low in fiber. Ever heard the story of the person who ate way too much cheese and was constipated for a week? There is some truth to the urban legend. It turns out that fiber greatly helps your body digest. So when you consume large amounts of dairy and less of fiber-full foods, you’ll likely find it hard to digest.

Milk can be full of growth hormones and antibiotics

Often, the farmer gives cows growth hormones so that they will produce more milk. They also use antibiotics on the cows. This seeps into the milk they produce, which we then consume. Unfortunately, this could lead to antibiotic-resistant diseases in the long run. Not to mention increasing the number of unwanted chemicals in our food.

If you do drink milk, go for organic. It’s free of antibiotics (to keep the milk clean) and growth hormones (to treat the cows humanely). Organic farms take a stand for healthy food and against unfair treatment of animals, so we’re fans.

Veganism calls for a dairy-free diet

We give a round of applause to the vegan lifestyle. Veganism is avoiding the use of all animal products in order to promote the humane treatment of animals and help the environment. This means not consuming any meat, eggs, and of course, dairy.

Going dairy-free is easier than you think

Did we mention that 75% of the world has a natural, adverse reaction to dairy? That means if you want to go dairy-free, there are already 5.7 billion people who are already lactose intolerant. Much of the world has stayed away from dairy already. It’s not too hard!

There are so many non-dairy substitutes out there, as we’ve already mentioned. We think that if you choose to go dairy-free, you’ll be surprised at how easily it left your life.

In Conclusion

The benefits of the dairy-free lifestyle are immense. In addition to losing weight and clearing your skin, you could be helping the environment and saving animals.

We believe it’s a possible journey for you, should you wish to take it. If you can stomach dairy and choose to keep it in your diet, go for raw, organic products. These are healthier for you and the environment. We always recommend checking the ingredients. A lot of yogurts, especially, have added sugar.

Whatever decision you make, we hope you always choose to eat fresh ingredients and keep yourself healthy.

Hopefully, you learned a lot about dairy and are now equipped to make the best choice for yourself and your diet.

The post Benefits of Going Dairy-Free appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

We’ve compiled a list of changes many experience after a year of eating fresh and healthy meals.

Take a look at this infographic for more details:

INFOGRAPHIC

How Your Body Will Change Once You Start Eating Healthy

Start to detox your body through a wholesome diet and feel happier and healthier than you ever have before.

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One Day After Starting

• You’ll experience fewer food cravings throughout the day, finally feeling in control over your food choices. This allows you to opt for healthy food – rather than the less healthy you may have choose before, setting yourself up for long-term weight management and health success.
• You’ll notice that hunger is stabilized. Earlier you may have found you felt ravenous come 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., however now, you’re never bothered by hunger pains. This makes losing weight feel that much easier.
• You’ll experience a higher level of mental focus and clarity. Any symptoms of brain fog or low concentration should begin to clear as you start noticing you can think more clearly.
• You’ll feel amazed that you can eat so much food without gaining weight. You might even feel overly full for the first couple of days of eating healthy. Stick with it however as that feeling will pass and you’ll be feeling better than you ever have before.

One Week After Starting

• Your energy level is higher than you may have ever experienced before, making completing daily activities – and even exercise (!) easier. In fact, you may find you begin looking forward to your exercise sessions because you now finally have the energy to perform them.
• You may start to notice your pants are feeling looser than before. Your body will be shedding all the excess water you were retaining thanks to a high sodium intake, along with too many processed foods earlier. This also comes with looking leaner in the mirror. Your scale weight will be down anywhere between 2-5 pounds.
• You’re starting to notice that your food cravings are lessening. While earlier you may have craved pizza, burgers, and ice cream, now, you are looking forward to the healthy meals you have planned.
• You’ll notice you begin sleeping more soundly. You fall asleep easier and tend to wake up less throughout the night.
• Your body will become regular. This can come with a lower amount of bloating and discomfort along with looking slimmer as well.
• You’ll notice your moods are more stable. You have less ups and downs throughout the day and may even start to feel more empowered in your daily life.

One Month After Starting

• You’ll notice you have a new glow to your skin. People may begin commenting on how radiant you look and that you appear to be looking younger.
• You’ll now be seeing a steady rate of weight loss (if using a lower calorie approach) to the tune of ½ to 2 pounds per week depending on what your starting point was.
• Some of the pre-existing health problems you may have been experiencing (migraines, joint pain, irritable bowel issues, etc.) may begin clearing up. For the first time in a long time you actually begin to feel very healthy.
• Your wallet is growing – many people think that healthy eating is more expensive, but when you add up all the meals you eat out along with the higher priced convenience items you may be purchasing (chocolate bars, granola bars, canned foods, etc.) you’ll actually be saving money with this new approach.
• You’ll actually decline unhealthy foods that are offered to you. By one month in, you’ve come to really appreciate how much better you feel not eating those foods and prefer to stick to a healthy eating plan.
• Eating right is starting to become more habitual. After doing something for 21 days straight, you’ll find that you naturally tend to do it without thought. Making smart choices will start to feel like second nature.
• If you are exercising, you’ll begin noticing improved performance. You’ll feel stronger in the gym and notice that you recover much faster coming out.  You experience that ‘post workout glow’ that everyone always talks about – but that you may have never felt before.
• You might find you start getting hungrier. This is thanks to your metabolism speeding up, getting used to all the healthy food you’re eating, which come at regular intervals. You can now eat more without gaining body weight.

Six Months After Starting

• You’ll be noticing a decline in your overall cholesterol levels if they were on the high side prior to starting this approach.
• Your blood pressure may also decrease, lowering your risk of heart disease and stroke.
• You should be feeling noticeably thinner (if using a lower calorie weight loss approach) as you will have lost 10-30 pounds.
• Your bones will be getting stronger, reducing your risk of stress fractures and breaks. While this isn’t something that you can see, trust that it’s happening.
• Your blood glucose levels will be under much better control, reducing blood sugar fluctuations and lowering your risk factor for diabetes (or, if you already suffer, your symptoms will be far better managed).

One Year After Starting

• You’ll still be enjoying all the benefits noted above as these benefits will persist for as long as you continue to eat healthy.
• You’ll be at your target goal weight – a body weight where you feel healthy, strong, and confident.
• You might find yourself wanting to try new exercises/sports/activities. You finally feel you’ve reached a place where you’re confident in the physical activity your body can do.
• You’re sure that you will not revert back to your old lifestyle by this point. You’ve seen too many positive changes to give it all up for those foods.
• You finally understand how some people seem to be naturally motivated. For you, eating healthy isn’t something you work at any longer, it’s just something you ‘do’.
• By this point you will have learned to indulge wisely – you can treat yourself if you wish, and it will not cause you to fall right off your plan entirely.
• You’ll be feeling happier and healthier than you ever have before.

References:

• http://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/healthy-eating.htm
• http://www.fitness.gov/eat-healthy/how-to-eat-healthy/
• http://authoritynutrition.com/how-to-eat-healthy/
• http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/healthy-eating-overview

The post Year in Review: How Your Body Will Change Once You Start Eating Healthy appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

Fad diets. They come and go. Some draw people in, others send people packing. When it comes to new diets, the only constant is change itself.

Every once in a while, however, a fad diet appears that makes us scratch our heads and go… huh?

Worst Fad Diets in History

Here are our favorite weird fad diets from over the years. We wish we were making these up.

1. The Clay Diet

“Want to lose weight, but have trouble curbing those hunger pangs? Then put some dirt in your water. Problem solved!”

So claim the advocates of the clay diet. The idea is that bentonite clay — a super-absorbent volcanic ash — will remove toxins and heavy metals from your body. Upon ingestion, the clay swells up to twelve times its size and pushes out slow-moving waste in the gut, boosting your metabolism. Stars like Shailene Woodley and Zoe Kravitz have done it, and you can find clay pills on the market, too. The main selling point is weight loss. Want to lose ten pounds in twelve days? Sign me up, right?

Slow down. Dr Anton Emmanuel, a gastroenterologist at University College Hospital, London, says: ‘The clay acts as a resin and binds everything — both good and bad — making it harder for the body to digest vital nutrients such as iron and calcium.’ Eating clay can also perforate your bowels and cause heart and kidney failure.

People love the word “detox.” Did you know the body detoxes itself? Your liver and kidneys do it all day long. If you want to curb hunger, have a snack rich in protein and fiber–like fruits, vegetables, or nuts. Time and portion your snacks so that you don’t overeat, but no need to go hungry. Just don’t eat dirt.

2. The Air Diet

Did you know that AIR is full of nutrients and is absolutely filling? Neither did we. It’s not. It’s a lie.

The air diet, or the virtual eating diet, is a French-inspired, and yes, celebrity-endorsed, plan in which–you guessed it–you eat nothing. Instead, you take a forkful of real, actual, eatable food, put it to your mouth but do NOT eat it. Don’t do it! Simply breath in its aroma and imagine it swishing around in your mouth. Then swallow.

Apparently, your brain is not very smart, because you’re full now. Have a nice day!

You are allowed to drink soup — that is, water mixed with salt.

Which is how this diet works. Supposedly, by going through the motions, you are satisfied. We don’t need to convince you why this could be detrimental to your health. It could create a fear of food, bring your metabolism to a dead halt, and break your muscles down.

What’s the healthy alternative here? Eat. There’s so much good, delicious, healthy, nutritious food out there, just waiting for you to scarf it down and lose weight at the same time. Eat lots of plants and you’ll be fine. No matter who you are: food is good. Always.

3. The Tapeworm Diet

Oh boy.

A tapeworm is a flat, segmented worm that lives in your intestines. It can grow up to 55 feet long, live for 25 years, and have babies of its own while growing inside of you. You’re probably confused–this is a diet, right?

For the tapeworm diet, you ingest a pill that contains a tapeworm egg. The egg will hatch and a tapeworm will grow inside of you, eating whatever you eat. In theory, it eats all of your calories away. Never mind that a tapeworm is a parasite. It is not your friend. The tapeworm doesn’t always limit itself to your digestive tract–it can travel all over the body. It can cause pain, diarrhea, nausea, fever, allergic reactions, infection, disruption of critical organs, blockage of bile and pancreatic ducts, and neurocysticercosis–which may lead to dementia and vision issues.

Over the years, people have ingested tapeworms to shed pounds. It was actually a popular diet in the Victorian era but continues in some cultures today. Thankfully there are no celebrity endorsements for this diet, but many women did admit they would swallow a tapeworm to lose weight on Tyra Banks’ talk show.

Want to eat fewer calories? No problem. Fruits and vegetables are great options. You could eat ten cups of broccoli for only three hundred calories. Don’t eat a tapeworm.

4. The Cookie Diet

It pains me to know that there is a cookie diet in this world and that it doesn’t work. I could really use it in my life.

All you have to do for this diet is eat four to six cookies a day. Not just any cookies, mind you (sorry). These are high-protein, high-fiber cookies infused with nutrients. Some versions of the diet then allow you to eat any other meal of your choice once a day, for a total of about 1100 calories per day. That’s the high range for these cookie diets, by the way. Many are lower than 800 per day.

We’re not big fans of low-calorie diets. The fact is, you’ll lose weight if you eat nothing but a bag of marshmallows every day, but your muscle will all turn to fat and flab and you’ll feel really sick. We want you to eat healthy, wholesome, real food, packed with fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains. You can eat even cookies from time to time.

5. The Fletcherizing Diet

“Nature will castigate those who don’t masticate,” claimed Dr. Horace Fletcher, founder of one of the first-ever fad diets. This Victorian-era doctor one-upped your mom by not only telling you to chew your food but to chew each bite 100 times. Even liquids had to be chewed, or “masticated,” to properly mix with the saliva.

Some of Fletcher’s ideas were ahead of their time–like being sure of exactly what’s in your food before eating it. Others, like never eating while angry, worried, or sad, just seem strange. And as if weight loss wasn’t enough, Fletcher even went so far as to claiming mastication would cause your, erm, bowel movements to smell better. These oddities weren’t enough to drive people away, however, as notables like Thomas Edison, Mark Twain, and John D. Rockefeller gave the diet a try.

The fletcherizing diet could very well lead to weight loss. Because when your meals take you over an hour, you’ll never want to eat! Time and studies have shown us, though, that it’s more about what you eat than how you eat it. Fletcher didn’t really care what you ate as long as the “food swallowed itself.” But we know that your body needs good, wholesome food. Just eat it slowly.

6. The Sleeping Beauty Diet

Sleep is great. It replenishes you, helps your memory, boosts your mood, and strengthens your immune system, in addition to causing weight loss. Ignore all those people who humble-brag about never sleeping. Soak in that slumber!

Some dieters have gone off the deep end. Their plan: You only worry about hunger when you’re awake, right? So sleep! All the time!

This plan is dangerous. It recommends taking prescription meds to fall asleep for at least ten hours a day–and sometimes up to 20. Hopefully, we don’t need to tell you not to live on sedatives. Overdose is a big risk. Elvis Presley supposedly tried the diet once and put himself into a coma because of it.

We’re huge proponents of sleep, but the recommended amount is 7-8 hours a day. Aim to stay in that range and don’t veer too much outside. Your body will thank you for it.

7. The Cotton Ball Diet

We live in the information age. The internet has shaped the way we talk, think, communicate, and view the world. But in a million years, people will look back on the internet and say its biggest impact was the cotton ball diet.

Born in chat rooms and on YouTube, the cotton ball diet is just like it sounds: you eat cotton balls. If you need unimportant stuff like “flavor” or “nutrition,” you can dip the cotton ball in juice or smoothies before swallowing it. The cotton ball is supposed to help you lose weight by making you feel full without taking in calories.

The cons of the diet? Where to start… Choking, for one. The cotton balls also block your digestive system, damage your organs, and dehydrate you. Never mind the fact that cotton balls are not actually made of cotton, but rather bleached polyester. The toxins from the synthetic materials could build up over time and severely damage your organs.

Many supermodels have been rumored to rely on the cotton ball diet to stay slim. Sadly, many teenage (and younger) girls have supported the diet online. A lot of doctors link the diet to an eating disorder stemming from perverted conceptions of beauty.

Stay Healthy, My Friends

Who knows where people come up with these fad diets? The underlying hope is that people will drop pounds–FAST. But there’s something way better than that number on your scale. It’s your health.

At Fresh n’ Lean we want you to eat healthy, wholesome food packed with nutrients and flavor. That’s why we created the healthiest meal delivery service out there based around a simple nutrition philosophy that’s been working for centuries.

There’s no reason why losing weight and being healthy should taste bad or make you feel uncomfortable. Food is a gift! Enjoy it.

The post The 7 Worst Fad Diets in History appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

Even artisan cheeses are becoming more and more popular, where you can buy or make your own versions of “fancy” types like Brie or Gruyere from nuts, seeds, tofu and more! Cookbooks are dedicated to the subject or including entire chapters to it.

What is Cheese?

From the Latin term, “caseus,” the Merriam-Webster Dictionary has three definitions for the word, “cheese” as follow:

1. A food consisting of the coagulated, compressed, and usually ripened curd of milk separated from the whey
2. An often cylindrical cake of this food
3. Something resembling cheese in shape or consistency
4. Something cheap or shabby: cheesy material <cinematic cheese>

The first definition points us to dairy. As vegans, we say, “No Whey!” Therefore, the second definition is geared towards us! While the lineage of Mr. Merriam and Mr. Webster probably didn’t have veganism in mind when they added “cheese” to the dictionary, advances in food technology have allowed just about anyone to become a cheesemonger or start a fromagerie.

Now, of course, the third definition all comes down to how the cheese (and other products) are made However, vegan cheese can be just as cheap or expensive as the time, effort and ingredients put into them.The game has indeed changed.

The Beginnings of Vegan Cheese

There isn’t much information on the exact origin of vegan cheese. There have been some daring people to try it from chefs to manufacturers. When non-dairy cheeses began hitting the market in the 1980s, it came with skepticism. The taste of these cheeses did not match the experience of dairy cheeses, being deemed not as good and having taste and texture of wax, chalk, and even plastic.

Another downside of these non-dairy cheeses was the majority containing casein. Casein is a protein in milk that used to aid in coagulation, acting as both a thickening and stretching agent. Casein being animal-derived would not be suitable for vegans.

What were vegans to do?

There was soybean curd, commonly known as tofu. Tofu was, and still is, a pretty versatile food. As cheese, some of the ways it could be used were:

• Drained and sliced for sandwiches
• Mashed for soft cheeses like Ricotta
• Cubed and seasoned for Feta or Mozzarella
• Silken and blended to be used as a spread, like mayonnaise

Tofu had the texture and variety in firmness to get as close to a consistency of cheese as possible. It would take on the flavor of whatever you seasoned, marinated or cooked with it. However, tofu needed a lot of help to come close to the experienced people desired while eating cheese with their meals. Working with tofu is easy but, when replicating dairy cheese, it is not as smooth as it’s a highly textured product. There was also the issue of people who were sensitive to soy allergies.

It would be nearly 20 years before we would see a considerable shift in vegan cheese production in volume, variety and flavor.

Get Nutty about Cheese

Who would have thought that you could make cheese out of nuts? Well, someone did, and now many are in the know. Nuts, like tofu, are versatile. Whether you soak cashews with Rejuvelac (a fermented grain liquid) to make mozzarella, or you grind walnuts with nutritional yeast to make Parmesan cheese, nuts have shown to bring depth into vegan cheese-making. They also present an opportunity to deepen the alternatives for those with soy allergies.

Nut cheeses can take on the flavors made with them like tofu does. However, nuts have made it possible to create a variety of cheeses, reminiscent of the dairy ones some of us grew up eating. Nut cheeses can be made quickly with simple mixtures or aged for sharpness through fermentation (thanks to ingredients like Rejuvelac).

Nuts have shown to have health benefits, especially for those concerned about their soy intake. Some benefits include:

• Full of probiotics and natural enzymes to help with digestion
• Cholesterol-free
• Excellent source of minerals like magnesium and copper to promote heart and muscle health
• High in fiber

Fresh n’ Lean understands and has introduced cashew cheeses to their menu! We are very excited as it is something we know people exploring a plant-based diet will love.

The Vegan Cheese Market Today

As veganism hits the mainstream, more products and cookbooks to promote an animal-free lifestyle have hit the market. This has been true for vegan cheese. Taking a lead from natural and organic food stores, major supermarket chains are now carrying non-dairy cheese alternatives with numerous varieties in base, texture and flavor.

Food advancements have led to commercial and artisanal cheeses being made for home and food service. These cheeses are far surpassed the need to cater to only the lactose intolerant. Cheese has become a food for everyone from gluten-free to nut-free. The demand has shown that people want comfort that fits in with their health or dietary restrictions. The call is now being answered!

In 2014, vegan cheese sales accounted for $30M in the United States. That was a nearly 23% increase from 2013. The number of new brands and varieties is growing at a rapid pace. We see the media pay considerable attention. Technology firms are making substantial investments in food advancements with vegan cheeses, as seen on shows like Shark Tank.

“I’d Go Vegan, But I Can’t Give Up Cheese”

Even five years ago, it was very easy to dismiss a plant-based diet for being “cheese-free.” Scientific studies have shown that dairy cheese contains an addictive quality in the form of casomorphins, derived from casein! It is now understandable why it would be difficult to give up cheese or any dairy product because as Dr. Neal Barnard has described, it is “dairy ‘crack.’”

Vegan cheese is more readily available in stores. From deli slices to artisan rounds, these alternatives are giving consumers choices with creative spins and flavors. You do not need to be daring to give it a try in a grilled cheese sandwich or alfredo sauce.

Now, there are even cookbooks dedicated to vegan cheese-making! They show how to make vegan cheese and why it does not need to be difficult. It can be as simple or complex as you want. What you find in stores, you can make at home.

Some great cookbook titles include:

• Artisan Vegan Cheese by Miyoko Schinner
• The Cheese Vegan by John Schlimm
• Non-Dairy Formulary by Skye Michael Conroy

Today, there’s no excuse not to try “next level” vegan cheese, full of flavor with less of a negative impact on your health…and the world around you.That is something that Fresh n’ Lean supports, as we deliver our cashew cheese to you.

What’s Next for Plant-Based Cheese?

Over 25 years ago, the choices were slim and not very good. Now, cheeses can be made from soy/tofu, rice, nuts, coconuts, tapioca, and even potatoes. Cheeses can be raw or processed. Cheeses can be bought in a store or made at home from simple ingredients.

The game has changed, friends! The standards and expectations are now high, as the quality of vegan cheese has improved over the years. Companies are now partnering with vegan food producers to serve products like pizza, cream cheese, and even cheesecake!

The demand is shifting where vegan cheese is not just for vegans. Vegan cheese is for everyone. Non-vegans are expanding that market, as they learn about their health, the benefits of plant-based eating or just want to experiment with new foods.

So, what’s next for plant-based cheese? Only time will tell. What we do know is:

• Demand for animal products is decreasing
• Access to dairy-free cheese is growing
• Future cheeses will need to exceed the taste and texture
• The bar has been raised

Only time will tell who will come up with the next big thing in vegan cheese!

Vegan Cheese at Fresh n’ Lean

Non-dairy cheese is booming! We get this and are working to make our cashew-based cheese the best vegan cheese it can be for our vegan meal service. We hope you’re excited just as we are!

We have already started adding this amazing and revolutionary product into our dishes. Our cheese is so delicious you can’t even tell it’s imitation! With flavors such as American and Cheddar you are able to enjoy a snack without the guilt. Looking to try some slices? Snack packs are available on our A la Carte menu.

Resources:

• History of Tofu
• Soy Cheese vs. Real Cheese
• These 25 Vegan Cheeses Will Make You Quit Dairy Forever
• How To Make & Serve The Perfect Raw Vegan Cheese Board
• Artisanal Vegan Cheese Comes into Its Own
• Heidi Ho on ‘Shark Tank’: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
• 3 Rules for Stellar Homemade Vegan Cheese
• Addicted to Cheese? Here’s Why
• 14 Vegan Cheeses That Will Make You Forget About The Real Thing
• 4 Hot New Gourmet Vegan Cheeses You Should Try!

The post The Evolution of Vegan Cheese appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

Why do we need calcium?

Calcium is a mineral stored in our bones and teeth, keeping them strong and hard. It is also needed for our muscles to move and for our brain to communicate to all our body parts. With the help of calcium, our body releases hormones and enzymes needed for normal bodily functions.

What is the recommended daily calcium intake?

The recommended calcium intake for an average adult, between 19-50 years old, is 1,000 mg. For adults between 51-70 years old, the recommended calcium intake is 1,000 mg for men and 1,200 mg for women.

As with all vitamins and minerals, the best way to acquire calcium is through all-natural sources–that is, the food you eat.

Although calcium supplements are available, its quality in this form is inferior. When found in plant sources, calcium is much more easily absorbed and utilized by the body.

How much calcium do you need?

The Food and Nutrition Board says it depends on your age, gender, and health status. It’s important you understand what your personal recommended Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) is.

Men

• 14-18 years: 1,300 mg
• 19-50 years: 1,000 mg
• 51-70 years: 1,000 mg
• 71+ years: 1,200 mg

Women

• 14-18 years: 1,300 mg
• 19-50 years: 1,000 mg
• 51-70 years: 1,200 mg
• 71+ years: 1,200 mg

Reference: National Institute of Health

Best natural vegan sources of calcium

So what are the best vegan sources of calcium?

From legumes (beans) and seeds to thistles (artichokes) and cane sugar syrup (molasses), there are many delicious and nutrient-rich plant-based sources to choose from. Calcium is not just good for your bones. It helps your blood flow, muscles function, nerves transmit messages, hormones secrete, and cells signal each other.

Beans

• Soybeans: 1 cup serving contains 261 mg
• White Beans: 1 cup serving contains 126 mg
• Pinto Beans: 1 cup serving contains 76 mg

Vegan Milk

• Hemp Milk: 1 cup serving contains 130 mg

Nuts and Seeds

• Sesame Seeds: ¼ cup serving contains 350 mg
• Chia Seeds: 2 oz. serving contains 358 mg
• Almond Butter: 2 tablespoon serving contains 111 mg

Vegetables

• Collard Greens: 1 cup serving contains 268 mg
• Turnip Greens: 1 cup serving contains 76 mg
• Kale: 1 cup serving contains 94 mg
• Broccoli: 1 raw stalk contains 115 mg
• Fennel: 1 bulb contains 71 mg
• Artichoke: 1 artichoke contains 25 mg

Grains

• Amaranth: 1 cup serving contains 116 mg

Fruits

• Blackcurrants: 1 cup serving contains 62 mg
• Figs: ½ cup serving contains 120 mg
• Oranges: 1 orange contains 50-60 mg
• Blackberries: 1 cup serving contains 40 mg

Other

• Blackstrap Molasses: 2 tablespoon serving contains 120 mg

Put your vegan meal prep on autopilot with our meal delivery service

Our vegan food delivery service is a great way to get more calcium-rich foods, especially for vegan sources of calcium. We prepare our healthy plant-based meals so that you won’t have to worry about shopping or preparing your food. Get enough calcium in your vegan diet in an easy, delicious way.

Resources:

• http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14082/the-best-sources-of-dairy-free-calcium-infographic.html
• http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Calcium-HealthProfessional/

The post The Best Vegan Sources of Calcium appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.