Hike Your Own Hike: 7 Life Lessons from Backpacking Across America (WanderLearn Series) by Tapon Francis

Author:Tapon, Francis [Tapon, Francis]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: lessons, life, backpacking, hiking, appalachian trail., motivation, journey, inspirational, self-help, travelogue
ISBN: 9780976581215
Publisher: WanderLearn Press
Published: 2012-08-26T16:00:00+00:00

If you choose to become a vegetarian, just make sure you take the following:

• Vitamin B12: It is difficult for vegetarians (and especially vegans) to get enough of this critical vitamin; therefore, supplements are the best bet.

• Omega 3: It is hard to get enough of this essential fatty acid in by eating a plant-based diet. Although some health food stores carry cereals that have flax seed (which is packed with Omega 3), some may just want to get their Omega 3s via a flax seed supplement, which comes in pill or liquid form.

• Protein: If you pay attention to what you eat, it’s easy to get plenty of protein as a vegetarian by eating nuts, broccoli, beans, and soy meat substitutes. But for those who do a lot of exercise (especially weight lifters) consider protein powder supplements. Even meat eaters consume protein powder.

• Calcium: Since many plants have plenty of calcium and enriched soy milk has just as much calcium as cow’s milk, it’s probably not necessary to take a calcium supplement. However, women might consider taking a 500 mg pill everyday.

For vegetarians, the Omega 3s and Vitamin B12 are the two most important supplements, because it’s hard to get those nutrients on a strict vegetarian diet. It’s not that hard for vegetarians to get enough protein and calcium—as long as they watch what they eat.

Don’t Vegetarians Lack Energy?

I’ll make you a deal. Come walk the Continental Divide Trail with me. At 3,100 miles, it’s a whopping 1,000 miles longer than the AT. You can eat whatever you want, and I’ll eat a vegetarian diet. Let’s see who makes it.

Most people take 180 days to thru-hike the AT. We took 111 days on our vegetarian diet.

But we’re not superstars. Here are just a few of the many superstar vegetarians athletes:

Martina Navratilova, champion tennis player

Desmond Howard, pro football player & Heisman trophy winner

Bill Pearl, four-time Mr. Universe

Paavo Nurmi, long distance runner, nine Olympic medals and 20 world records

Eating vegetarian food gives you plenty of energy. If you lack energy, you usually lack calories and/or sleep.

(Source: John Robbins, The Food Revolution, Red Wheel/Weiser, June 2001, p. 78)

The flip side of being a vegetarian is that you never have to worry about getting all the other nutrients that the classic meat and potato eaters usually lack. Those who focus on eating mostly fruits and vegetables will get loads of antioxidants (e.g., vitamins A, C, and E). Those who eat the dark leafy greens will get plenty of folic acid, iron, and tons of other vitamins and minerals. These nutrients ward off cancer and other diseases that will ruin your day.

Veggie Diet Equals Medicine

Researchers compared individuals who follow a low-fat vegetarian diet versus those who take statins, a cholesterol lowering drug.

The fiber and soy rich diet lowered total and “bad” cholesterol about as much as the expensive drugs. In just one month the average cholesterol plummeted 28.6 percent, compared with 30.9 percent for the statin drug.

They were also monitoring a third group which ate a low fat diet but without the soy and fiber emphasis.

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