Mayim's Vegan Table

CHAPTER 1

Who Are We and Why Are We Telling You What to Eat?

The past few years have been monumental for those passionate about plant-based eating. The word vegan used to have a lot of baggage attached to it and suggested certain stereotypes. Fortunately for the vegan and nonvegan alike, however, there has been a pronounced move for all of us to incorporate more plant-based foods into our diets to combat the obesity epidemic and help us live longer and healthier lives. This includes general recommendations, such as eating more fruit, more vegetables, more whole grains, fewer processed foods, and fewer salty and fatty foods. Regardless of whether you embrace a plant-based, omnivorous, or carnivorous diet, it is now universally accepted that everyone would benefit from a diet of plant-based foods.

You may have picked up this book because you want to learn more about plant-based choices for your family and how they can impact your family’s health and well-being. Maybe you just want a change from what you’ve been eating so you can have more energy and know that you are eating things that are natural and good. And maybe you’re curious about whether a plant-based philosophy and lifestyle could ever satisfy your palate.

The authors of the book you hold in your hands weren’t raised vegan, and our journeys to veganism are as different as we are. Dr. Jay is a pediatrician, pediatric nutritionist, and international board-certified lactation consultant who has been helping families achieve happy and wholesome living for over thirty years. He has been a vegan for almost forty years and eats whole foods almost exclusively, no preservatives, and almost no sugars. Dr. Jay grew up in and went to medical school in Wisconsin, where he took care of people who had made some pretty bad nutritional decisions. (Have you ever been to a movie theater in Wisconsin? They serve deep-fried cheese balls!) In his last year of medical school, after treating way too many overweight people who had heart disease and cancer, he became a chocolate-chip-cookie-grilled-cheese-sandwich-french-fry-potato-chip vegetarian for a number of years. (“That doughnut doesn’t have any meat in it, does it?!”) Although there wasn’t a specific “aha!” moment, he did begin a gradual transition to soy cheese and other, better alternatives. Over time, he realized that eating “real” foods—those that are unprocessed and as close to “whole” as possible—was better still. Dr. Jay’s personal eating habits are still evolving, changing, improving.

Besides being an Emmy-nominated actress, author, and a trained neuroscientist, Mayim is the mother of two sons who have been raised entirely vegan. However, Mayim’s journey to veganism involved years of cutting back on certain foods before cutting them out entirely. What started as eliminating dairy for health reasons and because of her son’s sensitivity to dairy during breastfeeding grew to an overhaul of eating and thinking patterns. Mayim now considers herself a vegan motivated by concerns for her health and that of her family, environmental considerations about the impact of animals raised for food, and ethical consideration as well. Her transition from a vegetarian college student to an almost vegan mom to a now entirely vegan mom involved a strong need for “fun foods”—foods that can please finicky toddler palates, and a lifestyle that is not expensive, time consuming, or only available if there are vegan restaurants around. Mayim’s life is that of a working mom with a practical and down-to-earth sensibility; she doesn’t belong to an exclusive community of vegans who can’t eat out or let their kids go to other kids’ houses for fear they would eat a slice of cheese.

Ultimately, we don’t expect anyone to pick up this book and become an “instant vegan” but instead to become a more thoughtful eater and “feeder” of children and families. Slow but steady is just fine with us. It’s what we’ve done and continue to do. And if you already do practice a plant-based diet, we hope you’ll enjoy our nutritional guidance and delicious recipes.

Throughout the chapters of this book, we will take on the most common misconceptions and myths about vegans, veganism, and plant-based eating—especially when it comes to nutrition and feeding our families. Our hope is to not hide behind such clichés as “Everyone should be vegan!,” “It’s easy to be vegan!,” and “Your life will be a million times better if you just do everything we say!” We know that’s not going to work for most people. What we have decided to do is be up front about what we assume you are thinking, because we have thought it all ourselves! We hope to clarify some of these misconceptions and, if nothing else, to put some delicious information on your plate so that you can best decide what works for you and your family. And we’ll help you put it all into action with over 100 easy recipes that have been tested on kids and adults.

Who Is Vegan?

Vegans are a diverse crowd and there’s a lot of variability in nutritional, ethical, and lifestyle choices. Some vegans are 100 percent vegan right down to their nonleather shoes and faux leather belts. Other people eat vegan for health reasons but have no ethical or environmental considerations that influence their decision to be vegan. Mike Tyson has stopped biting ears and has gone vegan. Russell Simmons and Ellen DeGeneres: vegan, too. Even Bill Clinton has a mostly vegan diet. So, whatever your image of a vegan may be, start picturing yourself and those you love. Because we think you’re going to love it.

There are people who choose vegan meals whenever there is any option to do so, but know that there may be meals served to them from time to time that may contain a possible dairy or egg ingredient. These people express that the intent of eating and living completely vegan is crucially important to them and that the practical aspects of going from 99 to 100 percent vegan eating are often the most difficult.

We have made the decision to be 100 percent vegan. What we hope to do here is give you some of the basics of nutrition, talk about where your food comes from, and offer you options so you can decide for yourself what will work for your family. The subtleties of politics, the environment, and the ethical and humane considerations of the usage of animals for food and clothing may be things you’re already aware of, may take much longer for you to learn about, or may never appeal to you. The bottom line: only you know what will work for your family and at what pace changes may be incorporated. The changes we suggest, such as eating more whole foods, more fruits and vegetables, and fewer processed foods, have been universally recommended for years by leading medical health authorities. We care less about what you call yourself and more that you get useful information and delicious recipes from us.

But Does It Taste Good?

We’d like to set the record straight that first and foremost we, Mayim and Dr. Jay, love food. (We really love food.) It used to be that you had to choose between “good” food and healthy food. That’s not so anymore! Even the most dedicatedly vegan families we know eat and enjoy great food, and there are tons of fast, easy, inexpensive ways to do that.

Second, it is not our intention for you or your kids to never have another french fry.

We don’t want to deprive you—and french fries happen. But we’re letting kids know that there are foods that we’re not going out and getting as a routine food. You get into real trouble if the once-in-a-while foods become regular ones. This book is full of rich and sometimes delightfully greasy foods that will satisfy you and your children, but because you are preparing them, you’ll naturally moderate how often you enjoy them. And as for french fries? Give your kids a dry paper towel to squeeze because we’ve got a great recipe on PAGE 135 for OVEN-BAKED FRIES!

Although the ease with which you can order “anything” at restaurants, in foreign countries, and at cocktail parties will change if your diet is entirely plant-based, being plant-based isn’t a punishment. It’s a commitment to health and well-being that necessitates being open to a world of new tastes and textures and flavors.

Third, most people already enjoy many foods that they don’t realize are vegan or easily veganized. Almost all store-bought boxed pastas are egg-free. Asian food typically uses no dairy, and Indian cuisine tends to feature tons of vegetables and a host of sauces and flavors of dishes that don’t have any meat, provided you skip the ghee and yogurt these recipes sometimes use. Bean-based chilis and stews are easily vegan. If you avoid the cheese, Mexican and South American food is full of vegetables and beans and grains that also do not require meat to be enjoyable. Besides featuring some of the best vegan foods ever (falafel, hummus, tahini), Mediterranean food consists of many delicious salads made of peppers, eggplant, carrots, cabbage, rice, and fantastic spices, all without dairy or meat. In short: great food awaits you!

The recipes in this book are Dr. Jay-approved and come from Mayim’s own kitchen, with a handful of Dr. Jay’s favorites thrown in there as well. Our families have different ranges of ages, and we will cover a little bit of everything from great foods for picky toddlers to meals for seemingly insatiable teenagers and their seemingly unimpressable gourmet-palate parents, too. We have selected recipes that have been known to please even the most skeptical carnivores. Very few of these recipes seek to mimic meat or dairy; they are the meals that we make most frequently for our families and for our vegan and nonvegan friends alike, which are met with the most enthusiastic responses and requests for “more, please!”

Plant-based eating comes about for a lot of reasons, and there’s no “right” way to start incorporating more fruits, vegetables, and grains into your and your family’s diet. You can change slowly, and in a way that works for your family. Our plant-based diets are really excellent and tasty and yours can be, too. It’s about learning to build a diet on simple whole foods, and then it’s about embracing a new kind of cuisine that includes all of the tastes and textures and feelings of fun and pleasure we all associate with wonderful food.

It’s about complex flavors, rich hearty soups, simple and awe-inspiring sandwiches, and greens that your salad-phobic friends won’t run screaming from. It’s about not missing out just because you are choosing to be a person who doesn’t eat meat or dairy. And—yes!—it’s about those decadent pies and cakes and cookies and truffles, too! It’s learning what you can have, when you can have it, and learning to love it, rather than living your life according to what you think you “can’t” have.

If That’s Not Enough to Convince You

We save the nutritional aspects of veganism for Chapter 2, where we really delve into the vegan diet and discuss healthy choices that will work best for your needs. Here are some of the health, environmental, and ethical aspects of a vegan lifestyle.

Health

The consumption of animal products has been associated with and confirmed to be responsible for numerous cancers, cardiovascular problems, and obesity. Sometimes it’s hard to explain to kids (and adults!) that kids who are eating junk and look just as tall and strong as kids who don’t, aren’t as healthy as they appear! Dr. Jay explains, “They might look the same on the outside. They might look and feel the same for a while. But a high-fat, high-sugar diet is going to catch up with them.” As he tells his patients, “If you’re going to build a nice house, are you going to build it with junky wood and junky bricks or are you going to get the very best stuff? And if you’re building healthy soccer players, or dancers, or guitarists, would you want to build them out of junky food or the best food?” Kids always know the right answer.

Chronic ear infections, sore throats, allergies, sinus infections, stomachaches, gastrointestinal troubles ranging from mild to severe, acne and rashes, in addition to the “big” health problems—there is a host of food-associated sensitivities that many of us are not told can be reduced or eliminated with dietary changes. It’s not only the research that backs us up; we’ve seen firsthand startling changes in these types of problems in our very own families and among our broader circle of friends and patients, simply from shifting to more plant-based diets.

More vegan choices mean stronger bones, stronger muscles, and kids who get sick less often. Choosing not to eat meat and dairy means you are promoting great health and fitness on a daily basis and avoiding lifelong medical problems. For your health, your children’s health, and the health of the nation and the world, that’s simply the truth.

Environment and Ethics

Bill Maher once quipped, “The business of raising animals for food causes about 40 percent more global warming than all cars, trucks, and planes combined. If you care about the planet, it’s actually better to eat a salad in a Hummer than a cheeseburger in a Prius.” And if that’s not enough, it takes 12 pounds of grain and 2,500 gallons of water to create a single pound of beef. We literally use more resources to grow food for the animals we eat than to feed the hungry in our cities, our country, our world. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Not all vegans choose to be vegan because of ethical considerations. For those of us who do, here are some of the things we think about. We’re not here to gross anyone out—there are plenty of other resources showing what it’s like for workers and animals in factory farms that will do that. We simply want to lay out the basic ethical issues and let you decide how much you want to learn beyond this very brief summary.

Meat from animals raised in factories is recalled frequently because the animals are raised in filthy conditions. They’re crowded together and have to be given antibiotics to prevent the diseases they spread to one another. (Consequently, these antibiotics are in our food supply as well and contribute to antibiotic resistance and health problems for us.)

In nature, chickens lay a few eggs a day and cows only produce milk when they are nursing a calf, typically once a year. Hormone injections and artificial boosting of these animals’ normal physiology is how we get the amounts of dairy and eggs needed for a factory to be considered “successful and productive.” Grass-fed farms and such may have better living conditions when they are well regulated, but the issue of slaughter technique and considerations for animal welfare is still very troublesome and, in many cases, quite disturbing even to the most happy meat eater.

Factory workers are paid notoriously poor wages and are not treated humanely themselves. If we continue to support industries that treat humans and animals in cruel and careless ways, then we become part of a very real problem our children will inherit.

There’s much more information available on health, environmental, and ethical concerns. We found the documentary Food, Inc. to be really informative; you’ll find more suggestions for further information in the Resources section in the back of the book. In the next chapter, we’ll tackle nutrition and structuring the vegan diet. Then, let’s set the table for fun food, healthy and wholesome choices, and decadent and delicious reminders that plant-based is anything but boring.

We want you to love what you eat and eat what you love. Let’s do it.

CHAPTER 2

Is Plant-Based Eating Really Better for Us? Nutritional Choices

When we tell people we are vegan, one of the first things we tend to hear back is something along the lines of, “But is that really healthy?” And, “But where do you get your protein?” Out-of-date myths about vegans being malnourished, lacking adequate calcium and protein, suffering from vitamin B₁₂ deficiency, and having a pale and sickly appearance abound. Significant literature has already tackled some of the most persuasive arguments and scientifically tested and proven benefits to a vegan diet, and we have listed in the Resources section some of the most reliable books that handle this matter. What we want to do is talk to you about why a plant-based diet works really well and the problems that occur when you and your children eat in other ways.

In the next section, we’ll talk about what’s wrong and unscientific about how many of us were raised to think about food. What’s problematic about milk and cheese and eggs, from a nutritional perspective? What about beef, chicken, or fish? And what are some alternatives that take into consideration not just taste but nutrition as well? We’ll cover it all.

From a purely medical point of view, the majority of doctors and other experts can tell you that eating too much red meat and cheese is bad for you and your family. Milk is allergenic and very few children are healthier because they drink milk. The CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control) most recent report named chicken as causing the largest proportion of deaths from food-borne illness.¹ No wonder. Most chickens are raised with enough antibiotics and other chemicals to give pause to any parent or scientist. Fish are contaminated because we have treated our waterways so badly. Let’s get into some more specifics.

Milk: It Does a Body

The vast majority of Americans feel that it’s important to drink milk throughout their lives. If your baby or child happens to weigh in at the low end of the growth chart at the pediatrician, many well-meaning but under-informed doctors prescribe whole milk. There is an almost universally accepted notion that whole fat milk builds better bodies and brains. Milk is, indeed, a significant source of protein and calcium, and as many diehard milk drinkers will tell you, they like getting all of that protein and calcium in one simple glass rather than having to get it from other food sources or supplements.

What’s true is that cow’s milk is specifically designed to efficiently grow . . . a baby cow. Cows have huge bodies and comparatively small brains, walk within hours of birth, mature within months, and die within a short number of years. There’s simply no scientific basis for feeding cow’s milk to human children. None. Dr. Jay asks his young patients, “Are you a cow? Only cows drink cow’s milk! Are you a yak? Only yaks drink yak’s milk!” They get the idea.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is very clear that a child should have human milk for his or her entire first year. And it has recently joined every other reputable expert group in recommending that period of time as a minimum, not an endpoint. Water is the best weaning beverage for babies over a year of age.

Milk also can increase the tendency for tonsillitis, runny stuffy noses, and ear infections. Milk from another species is highly immunogenic, which means that it triggers an allergic immune response that may look like anything from hives to diarrhea. An adverse reaction to milk can include bloating, indigestion, and a variety of gastrointestinal problems that are consistent with the fact that approximately 25 percent of Caucasians, 90 percent of Asian Americans, and 75 percent of Mexican Americans, Native Americans, Eastern European Jews, and African Americans lack the enzyme for digesting lactose and are lactose intolerant and/or have adverse reactions to milk.²