Tag Archives: vegan

We Pimped a Homemade Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte

By Abra Pappa for Nutritious America

Tis’ the season to consume many, many, many pumpkin spice lattes. A now ubiquitous beverage of fall, this Starbucks flavored java is loved the world over.

Last month there was a reported pumpkin spice syrup shortage at hundreds of Starbucks around the country; lovers of this beverage were outraged! It was the Pumpkin Spice LattePOCALYPYSE! Happily for the PSL fans (that’s what they affectionately call this fall beverage) the syrup was replenished and drinking resumed.


But wait! I am so sorry to burst your pumpkin bubble, but do you know really know what you are drinking? Espresso, steamed milk, and pumpkin spice syrup, yes, but what is in that pumpkin spice syrup? I for one, wanted to know. Starbucks isn’t terribly forthcoming about ingredients. Their website is extremely helpful with fat and calorie counts, but when it comes to actual ingredients one must dig deeper to come up with the truth.

I emailed them (which quite honestly, is very simple to do on their website) and asked for the ingredient breakdown. I received this:

Sugar, Condensed Nonfat Milk, Sweetened Condensed Nonfat Milk, Annatto (E160b, Colour), Natural and Artificial Flavours, Caramel Colour (E150D), Salt, Potassium Sorbate (E202, a preservative).

This list did not make a holistic nutritionist very happy. The first ingredient is sugar, then more sugar in the form of sweetened condensed milk, and numerous coloring agents and preservatives. Then the big whammy, under the guise of “natural and artificial flavors” are hidden health disastrous ingredients that legally do not have to be listed. Ingredients like Vanillin instead of Vanilla (synthetic vanillin primarily comes from wood pulp, a bi-product of the sulphite process. Yum!) are considered “natural ingredients.”

Well fear not pumpkin addicts, this is a truly simple and luscious drink to make at home. You will save calories, fat, and yucky franken-food ingredients, AND save yourself a pretty penny!

Consider the Pumpkin Spice Latte Pimped! (more…)

Posted on October 26, 2023 by Nutritious_America

HealthBuzz October 19: Famous Vegans, Indoor Fitness for Kids, and Comforting Fall Recipes

It’s Friday and that means it time for a dose of healthy news before you head out to enjoy the weekend. This week’s headline includes a story about celebrities who are living healthier due to their vegan lifestyle. Another headline is an article about indoor fitness for kids that we shared at Nutritious America. And, don’t forget to look at the recipes we love which include a whole wheat chicken pot pie and a sparkling apple sangria recipe.

3 Free Weekly Meal Planner Worksheets Organize Healthy Homemade Food

After a long day of work the last thing you want to worry about is dinner. For those who want to get healthy and manage their grocery budget meal planning can be a big help. DIR is sharing three meal plan worksheets that you can print off for free! The worksheets can help you stick to meal plans at the store and you’ll be less likely to put a bunch of junk into your grocery cart! 

Meet Mr. Honeycrisp, the Man Behind Fall’s Most Popular (and Most Expensive) Apple

About every type of apples tastes the same, right? Wrong. Honeycrisp Apples’ taste is unmatchable compared to Granny Smith apples or Red Delicious apples. DIR’s managing editor recently interviewed David Bedford, the father of the Honeycrisp Apple. Read more about the most prestigious apple out right now!

More Vegan Celebrities Tout the Animal-Free Diet’s Benefits

Being a vegan means that you cut off any animal product from your diet, but it also changes your lifestyle. Vegans swear to not use any animals products or eat animals because it is morally wrong. Celebrities like Pink, Kristen Bell, and Travis Barker have made a healthy lifestyle change since becoming vegans. (more…)

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Samantha

More Vegan Celebrities Tout the Animal-Free Diet’s Benefits

While vegan seems to become a hotter buzz word all the time, it’s a lifestyle that less than one percent of the U.S. has adopted. Less than half a percent make up the vegan population in the UK, too. For a very small group of people, 1 million* to be exact, their voices are loud, strong, and proud. Their message of an animal-free life (which extends from food and beverage to clothing and cosmetics) is amplified each time a celebrity adopts a vegan diet.

Idolizing vegan and vegetarian celebrities isn’t anything new. PETA has an entire class of sexiest vegetarians for which Pamela Anderson has been a poster girl. But she’s got some hot competition these days as sexy and aware celebrities make their veganism as well known as their movies and hit songs.

This week several famous vegans made headlines. Rocker PINK showed off her postpartum weight loss thanks to a vegan diet, Kristen Bell opens up about her switch from vegetarian to vegan, and Blink 182’s drummer shares how a vegan diet saved him after a health scare.

PINK gained 55 pounds during her pregnancy with daughter Willow Sage, born June 2024. She worked the weight off during the past year with daily exercise and committing to a mostly vegan diet (admitting to some chicken and fish), as she told Shape Magazine this month. “I think my baby may be part cheesecake,” she said, joking about her boundless pregnancy diet. However, there was no cheesecake for mama after baby, unless it was animal-product free. (more…)

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Natalie K

Elizabeth Nyland Lost 60 Pounds With Crossfit and a Paleo Diet

As a visibly ripped and fit food blogger, you’d never guess that Elizabeth Nyland of the blog Guilty Kitchen ever struggled with her weight. But in fact, before she ever hit her teenage years she was already well into a years-long battle with weight gain.

At age 18,  Elizabeth stood at just 5 foot 4 inches tall and weighed 185 pounds. Now, at age 29 (and the same height) she’s down to a happy 125. But getting to that point wasn’t easy.

(more…)

Posted on October 9, 2023 by Dana

Tweet to Win a Vegan Starter Kit including The Lean Book

If you’re considering a vegan lifestyle, then we want to help you get started! This vegan prize pack includes many of author Kathy Freston’s favorite vegan things. At the top of the list is her new book The Lean, a 30-day weight loss plan that is supported by a vegan-only diet.

TWEET TO WIN!

Your prize pack includes $95 worth of vegan goodies:

  • The Lean book
  • Sun-Dried Goji Berries
  • Vegetarian Hamburger Mix
  • Clif Vanilla Almond Builders Protein Bar
  • Bobo’s Oat Bars- Peanut Butter
  • UliMana Dark Cacao Truffles
  • Weinstein Books bag
  • DietsInReview.com T-Shirt

To Win: Follow us on Twitter AND Tweet this message:

I want to win the Kathy Freston #Vegan Prize @DietsInReview. Click to Join Me! http://flwr.it/WinVegan #DIRvegan

One winner will be announced Friday, August 31 at 12:00p.m. CST. (more…)

Posted on August 27, 2023 by Health Buzz

HealthBuzz August 17: Yoga at School, Best Health Blogs, and Sweet Vegan Recipes

We’re just hours away from the weekend! So that means it is time to catch up on buzz-worthy health news. This week’s headlines include a story about yoga classes helping students succeed at school, the best fitness blogs of 2024, and three recipes for delicious vegan treats that you could sneak past anyone!

Our First-Ever Food Awards

DIR spent the summer scouting grocery shelves for the best nutritional food. Mary Hartley, RD, our resident nutrition expert, developed a nutritional criteria for 13 different grocery categories. Find out which brand of bread, ice cream, and many more food items were given the DIR approval badge.

Is MSG Bad for You? The Facts about Monosodium Glutamate Make for a Hung Jury

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is an ingredient in countless numbers of processed foods. MSG enhances the flavor of food without giving a flavor of its own. So is the ingredient good or bad for your health? A number of experts weigh in on the argument.

Students Succeeding with Yoga Curriculum in the Classroom

School is back in session! What will the school year be like for millions of kids across the country? For starters, cafeteria food is getting a healthy make-over and P.E. programs are being shut down. But, schools are using yoga to replace or enhance physical fitness classes. Not only is yoga benefiting a student health, but it is helping them perform better in and out of class. (more…)

Posted on August 17, 2023 by Samantha

Gwen Stefani Nails the Diet, Fitness, Mental Health Trifecta with Her Healthy Attitude

Children of the 90s rejoice… Gwen Stefani is coming back and it’s not in the junior’s section at Target. She and her band of more than 20 years, No Doubt, are finally headed back to the studio to release Push and Shove, their first album in a painfully long time.

It’s no doubt that she looks amazing. At age 42 with two kids and a non-stop rock-star career, she has struck the balance that even fellow Hollywood moms struggle to find, not to mention us ordinary folks.

Gwen is the cover model for the September issue of Harper’s Bazaar, and inside the insightful interview she says she’s tired of being asked how to get abs like hers. But everyone wants to know, because, look at them!

“There is no secret: You just have to eat healthy, work out, and torture yourself!,” said Stefani in the Harper’s interview. “But it’s more for my brain than it is for my body.” (more…)

Posted on August 10, 2023 by Natalie K

Vegan Advocacy Group Fights to Remove Milk from Schools

In these tumultuous times while most of our country has its eyes on the upcoming election, some health advocates are turning their eyes in another direction: On school lunches.

The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) – a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. – advocates for vegan diets and is out to bring dairy down, and hard. And where are they aiming their message? At kids, naturally, because they want to abolish milk from the school lunch programs for good. And in place of diary, they want to see other calcium sources on kids’ plates like beans, sweet potatoes and figs.

This isn’t an entirely unreasonable request, however, not everyone’s buying what they’re trying to sell. And perhaps it’s because of the group’s tendency to use harsh, unconventional methods for advocating in the past.

An example of PCRM’s radical ways? Just earlier this year the group placed some controversial billboards in Albany, New York, with images of overweight people grabbing their fat, and blamed dairy as the reason for their weight.

The signs said things like “Your Thighs on Cheese,” and “Your Abs on Cheese,” in an attempt to send the message that dairy is the reason Americans are fat. This, they say, is because of the saturated fat milk contains. (more…)

Posted on August 8, 2023 by Dana

Healthy Surprise Delivers a Bounty of Vegan Snacks Each Month

Healthy Surprise is a company that ships out gluten-free, vegan, and raw snacks to the door steps of their subscribers. Founder Joe Winke stumbled upon the idea of sending healthy snacks to people after a friend sent him healthy food in the mail for his birthday. Who knew that making an assortment of healthy snacks and putting them in boxes would be a hit?

The snacks range from nuts to granola bars and cookies. You can find them in larger grocery stores or at your local health food store, and certainly online.

Joe and other “snackologists” try all of the snack items before they are placed in the boxes. Since people are particularly fond of kale, Healthy Surprise tries to send kale snacks every month in the boxes, but the rotation of different snack items changes monthly because they want subscribers to receive a healthy surprise each month! (more…)

Posted on June 22, 2023 by Samantha

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burgers Make a Tasty Vegetarian Summer Meal

 

Every now and again, a non-meater just craves a hamburger. I know this because I am one. I very rarely eat meat and the thought of a meat patty can sometimes just gross me out. But that’s where veggie burgers come in – quality, homemade veggie burgers. (more…)

Posted on June 19, 2023 by Dana

Michelle Pfeiffer Goes Vegan

Going vegan isn’t just trendy anymore, it’s a practical diet choice for those seeking a longer, healthier life. Deemed ‘The Kind Diet‘ by actress Alicia Silverstone, vegans enjoy a diet free of animal meat and byproducts, including eggs, milk, butter and even honey.

Thanks to some big names joining the ranks as recent converts, including Bill Clinton, Madonna, Travis Barker and Carrie Underwood, the argument for vegan is becoming all the more convincing. And now another Hollywood leading lady has made the switch – 54-year-old actress Michelle Pfeiffer.

Pfeiffer, best known for her early roles in Grease 2 and Scarface, announced her decision to go vegan during a recent interview on CNN with Sanjay Gupta. When asked what prompted her switch to an animal-free diet, Pfeiffer said it was initially inspired by Bill Clinton’s move to go vegan after his second heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery. (more…)

Posted on June 5, 2023 by Dana