'I feel like a trillionaire as I don't take any medicines!'

Dubai based Parimala Mani shares how she has benefited immensely by going on a healthy vegan diet

My right knee was at the beginning stage of osteoarthritis and it was difficult for me to walk. Then I got the magic wand of Dr Nandita Shah & Team SHARAN. It was a blessing to me to meet Dr Shah on her first visit to Dubai. After attending sessions on different methods to follow a whole food plant-based diet, my knee doesn't pain anymore. I am able to walk and have managed to lose 14 kilos! The green smoothie is my morning miracle drink. I follow that with simple and nutritious meals which are dairy, oil & meat free dishes, salads, soups, tasty sweets and savories too. My son who has been diagnosed with hypothyroidism is also benefitting. Though he doesn't follow fully, since he eats the meals I cook, his levels have started improving.

SHARAN has also helped me both mentally & physically. I have achieved mental wellness through the ho'oponopono, gratitude & affirmation workshops. Plus the physical fitness has been attained through yoga and bed workouts. I feel like a trillionaire as I don't take any medicines, since health is our real wealth! The first thing I do every morning after finishing my work is to check the SHARAN pages to see what's new. Since I enjoy my home cooked meals so much and rarely step out, every month I keep aside that amount which I would otherwise spend eating out, to donate, to gift books and to attend the online classes at SHARAN. Thanks to SHARAN for helping me to achieve optimum health benefits and wellness
 

Egg Replacers

There are solutions to everything, so going vegan doesn't mean you will miss out on dairy, eggs, meat, fish & more. All you have to do is find the replacements! Read on to find out some great egg replacer ideas and you will be surprised!

Eggs serve different functions in different recipes. They work as binders, holding the other ingredients together, or as leavening agents, providing lift and affecting texture.

The purpose of the egg in a recipe and the flavours that are acceptable in that recipe will help determine the possible substitutes. In some cases, you can omit the egg altogether and the recipe isn’t noticeably affected.

Replacing Eggs in Baked Goods

Eggs are used in baked goods for leavening or lightness. They may also serve as a binder.

Flat foods such as pancakes and cookies don’t rely on eggs for lift. In many cases, you can eliminate the egg altogether, especially if the recipe calls for only one egg. Instead, add a tablespoon or two of additional liquid soy milk, fruit juice or water per egg omitted, to restore the recipe to its original moisture content. A small quantity of baking powder may help give lightness to pancakes.

In recipes for baked goods that have a light, airy texture, replace eggs with an ingredient that provides lift. Any of the following ingredients can replace one whole egg in a recipe:

Ingredients:

1) Half of a small, ripe, mashed banana. This gives a mild banana flavour, which is delightful in recipes for muffins, cookies, pancakes and quick breads. However, items made with bananas may not have a very long shelf life and are best eaten within a couple of days.

2) ¼ cup of tofu blended with the liquid ingredients in the recipe. This too is best eaten in a couple of days.

3)¼ cup of applesauce may be used. This also adds a hint of flavour. Add an extra ½ teaspoon of baking powder, because using fruit purees to replace eggs can make the finished product somewhat denser.

4) A heaped tablespoon of soy flour or bean flour, mixed with a tablespoon of water.

5) 2 tablespoons of cornstarch blended with 2 tablespoons of water.

6) 1 tablespoon of finely ground flaxseeds blended with ¼ cup of water. The flaxseeds gel together and bind with the other ingredients. Use immediately. If you don’t want the flecks of brown skin to show, you can strain it through a fine sieve or cheesecloth before use. NOTE: Flax seeds can be a bit drying to some baked goods since they suck up liquid, so use judiciously.

7) Vinegar, when used in baking, reacts with baking soda to give the same effect as egg.

Some recipes need an ingredient that binds all the other ingredients together. Your choice of ingredients to replace eggs in these types of foods depends on the degree of binding you need, as well as how the ingredient will blend with the other flavours in the recipe. Some options are arrowroot starch, potato starch, cornstarch, whole wheat/ unbleached oat/ bean flour, finely crushed breadcrumbs/ cracker meal/ matzo meal, quick-cooking rolled oats or cooked oatmeal, mashed potatoes/ mashed sweet potatoes or tofu.

Egg Dishes Where Egg is One of the Primary Ingredients

We have included some recipes like Tofu Akuri,  French Toast, Tofu French Toast and Tofu Mayonnaise which replace traditional egg dishes.

Thinly sliced tofu, pan fried and sprinkled with nutritional yeast flakes, tastes surprisingly like fried eggs.

Food For The Mind

FACEBOOK SUPPORT GROUP

1. SHARAN India is SHARAN's main Facebook page which you can like and follow for getting useful daily updates and news from the plant based health world. You will also get news about the latest SHARAN events, see testimonials, and more.

2. SHARAN's Vegan Support Group is an open support group to know more about vegan/plant-based lifestyle. Here you can ask questions and share inspiring stories, tips, recipes, etc.

All our doctors and presenters will be here to answer your questions and give you tips. If you have attended our events join this group to be a part of our family.

Please like the main SHARAN page and join the group(s) applicable to you.

World Vegan Day

World Vegan Day is on 1st November. Veganism is good not just for our own health. It is a social justice issue, a recognition that we live in symbiosis on this planet. Veganism is a means to holistic peace and harmony. Read on to understand 10 reasons to go vegan.

1. Less suffering from starvation Today more than 40% of all the grain grown is fed to animals. All this food could be -given or made available to starving human beings. Eating lower on the food chain is much more efficient. Growing crops directly for human consumption can increase the amount of available food calories by up to 70%

2. Less Water shortages Many places suffer droughts. On an average it takes 500 litres of water to produce 1 kg of potatoes, 600 for 1 kg of wheat, 2000 for 1 kg of rice, but up to 100,000 -for 1 kg of beef. About 90 billion land animals are slaughtered globally each year for food. That’s a lot of water that could be saved.

3. More trees, forests greenery Our diminishing forests are seriously threatened by grazing animals. Further everyday up to 10,000 acres of forests are bulldozed for meat production.

4. More wildlife We are facing species extinction due to loss of habitat. More wildlife habitat means more wildlife, and more biodiversity.

5. More available energy Eating animals or their products is energy intensive. It is said that the world’s petroleum reserves would last for only 13 years if all humans were meat eaters but 260 years if all humans were vegetarian. Every single bit of meat and dairy has to be stored in refrigeration. That alone is energy intensive. The production of meat is also energy intensive –growing food for feed, transporting it to the farm animals (this currently happens across continents), transferring animals to stockyards, then slaughter houses, then packaging units to stores and finally into the consumers fridge or freezer till its eaten.

6. Less global warming The WHO and FAO released a joint 400 – page document called Livestock’s Long Shadow which notes that livestock produce more greenhouse gases than all the vehicles combined! The World Watch institute pegged it at 50% in 2009. Sadly it is increasing, not decreasing.

7. Less pollution of land, air, and water Manure lagoons from concentrated animal feeding operations pollute our land, air and water supply. The high concentration of manure in the rivers and lakes kill billions of fish and aquatic life and leads to a growing number of abnormalities of marine animals.

8. Better health, less money spent on healthcare. Heart disease, hypertension diabetes, cancer and obesity are all linked to excess animal protein consumption. Healthcare costs would drop dramatically. We are killing ourselves with our forks.

9. More social justice What humans do to animals, they also do to each other. Racial discrimination and species discrimination are connected. Today discrimination, exploitation, sexual exploitation and violation, rape, murder etc have more animal victims than human victims but this is hardly being addressed.

10. Compassion for other living creatures 90 billion land animals and countless more sea animals die every year to feed 8+ billion humans that could have thrived on plants. Every animal fights till the last for the only thing it owns, its own life.