Stay cool. ;O)

Dear Sassy,
How do I learn if I am getting optimum nutrition from meals?
-- Anthony, Burnie, Maryland

Hi Anthony,

First of all, don't worry. It's very easy to get the nutrition you need from your meals, it just takes a little planning to get into the groove. Once you have a comfortable understanding of which foods should be included in your vegan diet, the whole process becomes very simple.

Begin with the Vegan Food Pyramid. Here's really where you'll get a grip on which foods you should be eating on a DAILY basis. Keep in mind, if you're trying to lose weight, you'll shoot for the lowest quantity listed, and if you're trying to gain weight shoot for the highest quantity listed. If you're happy with your weight, then find the sweet middle spot of the quantities listed.

For instance, take a look at the quantity listed for grains: 6-11 servings. Those looking to lose weight will opt for 6 servings, those trying to gain weight or those with a high metabolism (such as athletes) can reach for 11 servings, and those of average weight should do just fine with 8-9 servings.

(If you need some help creating a menu that includes all the vegan food groups, then take advantage of my Vegan Nutrition Coaching service. Click the link to learn more.)

Lastly, there's an easy and fun way to learn which areas of your diet need your attention. As a subscriber to this Golden Banana newsletter, you're a Vegan Coach VIP. This means you are given access to some special pages of my site simply by entering the current password. This password can be found at the beginning of each and every newsletter. Look above, and you'll see the current password for the month of August is: barley (case sensitive).

Now that you're armed with the password, visit the Vegan Nutrition Test which can help pinpoint specific areas of your YOU-nique nutrition profile. Be sure to read the instructions carefully. Then visit the Nutri-Body Results page to learn what your results mean.

If you need any help delving further into your Vegan Nutrition Test results, sign up for my Vegan Nutrition Coaching service, where we'll work together to fill your diet with the foods you need most.

Hope this helps, Anthony.

Dear Sassy,
I read that women who are vegetarians are deficient in L-Carnitine and that can keep the metabolism down. I know that the way to get L-Carnitine is through red meat, but what other ways can you get this? As you have said, I don't want to just be popping pills/supplements.
-- Aleta, Claremont, California

Hi Aleta,

Great to hear from you.

L-Carnitine is made in the liver and kidneys and acts sort of like a little train that carries the long-chain fatty acids into your cells, which then produce energy.

There is currently no conclusive evidence that vegetarians or vegans are deficient in L-Carnitine. While it's true that L-Carnitine is found in abundance in meat and dairy products, it is also found in tempeh, wheat, asparagus, avocados, and peanut butter.

Those people who have challenges with their liver or kidneys may have difficulty creating the L-Carnitine their bodies need, but that has nothing to do with whether or not one is vegetarian.

As always, my advice is the same. Focus on eating the recommended amounts of food from the Vegan Food Pyramid each and every day. Take a B12 supplement and eat B12-fortified foods such as nutritional yeast, and drink lots of water (8-10 glasses/day). Also, be sure to take a peek at my Top 10 Basics of Nutrition for a Vegan.

And remember, Vegan Coach VIPs, that you can be a healthy vegan with no worries about your nutritional profile as long as you just follow the Vegan Food Pyramid.

Honestly, it's really just that easy. ;O)

All the best, Aleta.

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

Here's a delectable raw salad that comes together in minutes and is PERFECT for a hot day.

Enjoy!

Creamy Macadamia Apple Salad
Yield: 6 small or 4 large side dishes

• 3/4 cup macadamia nuts
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
• Sea salt, to taste
• 2 green apples, cored and sliced
• 1/8 cup raisins
• 1/8 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/8 cup green olives, coarsely chopped
• 1/8 cup walnuts, finely chopped, for garnish

1. Soak the macadamia nuts and cashews together in 3 cups fresh water for 20 minutes. Drain and rinse.

2. In a food processor, chop soaked macadamia nuts and cashews into a fine meal. Add lemon juice and olive oil, and blend as smooth as possible. Add a few Tablespoons of fresh water to aid in blending. It should be fairly smooth and creamy. Add the nutritional yeast and salt and blend until well mixed. Place in a large bowl.

3. Hand-mix in the apples, raisins, coarsely chopped walnuts and chopped olives. Season with sea salt.

4. Garnish the top with finely chopped walnuts.

Happy cooking!

SASSY RECOMMENDS...

Last but certainly not least, please visit Reduce Footprints, a fabulous blog created by Cindi from Ashville, North Carolina.

As she states in her blog: "I decided to create a blog where we can share "easy to do" ideas on reusing, recycling ... and basically, all things associated with reducing our footprint on the earth. Hopefully, something you see in this blog will inspire you to look around and discover new ways to help Mother Earth, in an easy-to-do, inexpensive way."

One thing I learned within minutes of visiting Cindi's blog is how to use your clothes dryer to its optimum energy efficiency. Your clothes dryer takes a lot of energy to heat up, so it's best (whenever possible) to do more than one load consecutively so you can pop the clothes from the washer right to the dryer without the dryer cooling down first.

Fabulous job, Cindi! Keep up the important work of educating us.

That wraps it up for this edition of The Golden Banana newsletter.

VeganCoach.com has been created to help YOU. To contact me with questions, comments or suggestions, please fill out the form on my Contact page.

Thanks! :O)
Sassy