The Spicy Vegetarian Chili Issue – Protein vs. Carbs

Vegan / Vegetarian Meals Part IV:

Here are some vegetarian chili dishes (and one spicy vegetarian chili recipe) suitable for vegan weight loss plans and everyday meals. (Recipes are at the end of the post). While working with beans and sauces, here are some spicy issues to consider:

If cooking up a pot of vegetarian chili gets you thinking about human protein requirements and (just for a second) wondering if you shouldn’t be adding some ground beef to the mixture, but you don’t (and furthermore, wince at the thought of animal flesh) and continue reading ingredients for your vegetarian chili recipe, patting yourself on the back for not adding to crimes against animals and being more natural in your approach to living in harmony with nature…wait a minute… if the basis for choosing vegan or vegetarian meals is an emotional need to live harmoniously within the loving and peaceful laws of nature, then perhaps it’s time to take a second look at nature.

Living in Harmony with the Goodness of Nature?

The studies mentioned in the previous post (those conducted by the World Health Organization and the Oxford Vegetarian Study), as well as the endorsement of vegetarian meal plans by credible associations (such as the American Diabetic Association and the British Medical Association), shouldn’t provide a basis for those choosing vegan or vegetarian nutrition to become fanatic, adopting religious-like behavior, discrediting their choice with unrealistic ideologies about the intrinsic “goodness” of nature and animals (which sometimes veers off into the realms of the supernatural), or deluding themselves about what “nature” is all about – survival, reproduction – evolution through natural selection.

If humans thrive on animal flesh, and if the only means of obtaining sufficient protein for adequate survival is meat, then meat is what we should be eating. But if eating animals isn’t the best, or only, way to obtain the required protein, then we should be doing whatever the alternative is. If the basis for making a pot of vegetarian chili is decided by a desire to save or protect other animals, leading to the detriment, weakening, and perhaps eventual extinction of our own species, then it serves no point (other than a temporary personal or emotional one).

Anyone who’s studied science / biology (or taken a walk through a jungle and observed a praying mantis mercilessly eat its victim alive, or strolled through a garden and noticed a spider catch its prey, then use fangs to inject it with venom, which liquefies the victim, in order to suck the nourishment into its hungry spider stomach), knows that “nature” (referring to the physical world even without human intervention as well as the process of evolution by natural selection), is anything but loving, gentle, kind or just. It’s cruel. It’s about survival. Eat or be eaten. Kill or be killed. What food we ultimately choose to kill and eat (be it plants, animals or both) will undeniably (due to the way our “big” brains function and the number of them currently struggling for survival on this planet) have emotional, social and global environmental implications.

It should therefore be our aim to understand our choices based on how food affects (and has affected) the human body and its development from an evolutionary, biological, anatomical and medical “survival” standpoint. For a moment, we must leave emotions (politics and heartfelt beliefs) out of the equation, because there’s a health crisis around the world, and in the one of the most powerful and influential nations on the planet, there’s an “obesity epidemic”. If one in three CHILDREN is overweight or obese in the United States (one of the most advanced nations in the world that many developing nations look to for advice and view as a role model – imitating behavior and eating patterns), the survival of the species doesn’t look too bright. So let’s set aside saving animals for a second, and take a look at what we’re doing to save ourselves.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (revised for 2010), says, “Some evidence for beneficial health outcomes for adults also exists for vegetarian eating patterns. In addition, investigators have studied traditional Japanese and Okinawan dietary patterns and have found associations with a low risk of coronary heart disease.” There are also some examples of Mediterranean diets – all part of a campaign to reduce obesity and cardiovascular disease, offered in a 6 chapter downloadable Dietary Guideline booklet (made available April 2011).

The booklet follows the January, 2011 USDA Press Release, entitled “USDA and HHS Announce New Dietary Guidelines to Help Americans Make Healthier Food Choices and Confront Obesity Epidemic”. In part it states:

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines are being released at a time when the majority of adults and one in three children is overweight or obese and this is a crisis that we can no longer ignore,” said Secretary Vilsack. “These new and improved dietary recommendations give individuals the information to make thoughtful choices of healthier foods in the right portions and to complement those choices with physical activity…

…to encourage Americans to consume more healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, and seafood, and to consume less sodium, saturated and trans fats, added sugars, and refined grains.

With two of the six dietary tips being: “Make half your plate fruits and vegetables” and “Drink water instead of sugary drinks”, people seeking answers on what a body ultimately requires, will probably still feel hungry for something in which to sink their teeth.

Medical professionals, nutritionists, dietitians, scientists and genetic researchers, all seek solutions to the question of what constitutes optimum human nutrition, and somewhere amongst them lies the answer. The question is: which dietary program works?

Is the science of high protein low-carb nutrition where it’s at?

Was Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution the answer? If we take into account what the New York City Medical Examiner reported after Dr. Atkins death, where he was found to be “clinically obese” weighing 258 pounds with a history of hypertension and severe heart disease, some might conclude that a high animal protein diet isn’t the best answer.

If you’re grimacing at the reference to Dr. Atkins…okay, it’s old news, but what about newer high-protein diets?

Dr. Mchael R. Eades and Mary Dan Eades book, “Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low-Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health–in Just Weeks!” offers well-researched information and an approach to health that merits investigating. But, is there evidence from clinical studies to demonstrate that a “high-protein, low-carb alternative” is a better way to attack the obesity epidemic?

Without emotional “animal love” getting in the way of the issue, is there evidence that a high protein animal-based diet could be the best answer – not for a handful of individuals that it’s obviously benefited, but as a basis on which to establish human nutritional guidelines for today and future generations? What do large-scale, long-term studies suggest?

Have low-fat diets been reversing heart disease and lowering cholesterol levels?

Consider Dr. Dean Ornish (Harvard Medical School graduate and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco) who offers nutritional advice on creating low-calorie, low-fat, vegetarian diets (including aerobic exercise and yoga) thorough his years of studies and published findings. Take into account the 5 year study, published in JAMA (the Journal of the Medical Association) in an article entitled, “Intensive Lifestyle Changes for Reversal of Coronary Heart Disease” (by Dr. Dean Ornish, et al.) where the initial one year findings were reported as follows:

After 1 year, we found that experimental group participants were able to make and maintain intensive lifestyle changes and had a 37.2% reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and a 91% reduction in the frequency of anginal episodes. Average percent diameter stenosis regressed from 40.0% at baseline to 37.8% 1 year later, a change that was correlated with the degree of lifestyle change. In contrast, patients in the usual-care control group made more moderate changes in lifestyle, reduced LDL cholesterol levels by 6%, and had a 165% increase in the frequency of reported anginal episodes.

Consider Dr. Nathan Pritikin’s studies, including the results of patients who underwent dietary changes at the Pritikin Longevity Center (opened in 1975), whereby a low fat diet and an exercise program demonstrated that patients showed a 23% drop in cholesterol levels, and that 83% of patients with high blood pressure were normalized.

How our body reacts to high protein diets with animal products versus vegan or vegetarian diets, is what Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. studied, and his published findings, regarding cardiovascular prevention through a plant-based diet, demonstrate that coronary artery disease was reversible. Findings were reviewed after 12 years (offering a 20 year analysis of research conducted) and can be read in the book, “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure”.

Getting Rid of the Cheese

At the start of this post it was noted that vegans and vegetarians can take things too far, albeit with good intentions, but all too often when the meat and milk is tossed out what remains isn’t a healthy nutritional plan, but a mass of carbohydrate dough and cheesy ideologies easy to dismiss…

Continue reading: Vegan Vegetarian Meals Part V: Vegetable Lasagna: What’s Under the Vegan Layers Without the Cheese?

Posts in this series include:

- Vegan / Vegetarian Meals Part I: Tofu Recipes and Brain Food

- Vegan / Vegetarian Meals Part II: Evolutionary Mélange and a Vegetable Soup Recipe

- Vegan / Vegetarian Meals Part III: Stuffed Mushrooms and Survival of the Fittest Fit Enough…

- Vegan / Vegetarian Meals Part IV: The Spicy Vegetarian Chili Issue – Protein vs. Carbs

- Vegan Vegetarian Meals Part V: Vegetable Lasagna: What’s Under the Vegan Layers Without the Cheese?

Vegetarian Chili:

Many vegan and vegetarian chili recipes attempt to imitate the meat versions by using meat substitutes that are often just a mass of wheat gluten – especially things like seitan.

Removing meat from the recipe and adding empty carbohydrate calories isn’t the answer to better health. Tofu and tempeh are better alternatives.

However, since beans are protein, veggies are a great way to add volume, which is why this recipe includes zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms and corn. This is a hearty vegetarian chili recipe:

Ingredients:

4 cups water or vegetable stock
½ lb. pinto / kidney beans (or ¼ of each) Example product: Eden Organic Pinto Beans and Eden Organic Kidney Beans
½ block extra firm tofu or tempeh (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder Products example: Simply Organic Organic Chili Powder
( ¼ teaspoon cayenne (optional for those who like it hot)
1/2 very small cayenne pepper (fresh is best)
1 teaspoon cumin powder Product example: Spicy World Cumin Powder
1 cup of fresh peeled / chopped tomatoes
¼ cup tomato paste Product example: Amore Paste Sun-Dried Tomato (sun-dried offers more flavor)
10 medium mushrooms (minced not sliced)

1 large onion
½ a head of garlic
1 red pepper (sweet) chop fine
1 small eggplant chopped fine
1 small zucchini
½ cup sweet corn kernels
sea salt

Preparation Instructions:

Place the beans, ¼ head of fresh garlic and half the chopped onion in the water or vegetable stock and cook the beans until soft. (Presoaking the beans overnight makes them easy to cook, but then you can use half the water or stock for cooking.) When the beans are cooked, remove garlic, and set the pot aside.

For no-fat vegetarian chili, omit the olive oil and just simmer the ingredients, but for a bit of extra flavor, use a skillet with a smattering of olive oil and sauté half the chopped onion, and the rest of the fresh garlic. Once these are browned, add the minced mushrooms and lightly brown them. Next, add the chopped sweet red pepper, sweet corn, chopped zucchini / eggplant, fresh cayenne (very finely minced) and the tomato paste. Cover the mixture and simmer over low heat until the eggplant and zucchini are very soft. Add sea salt to taste, and slowly add the cumin, chili powder and/or cayenne powder. It will be a bit spicy, but remember you haven’t added the sauce to the beans / tofu yet. Okay, go ahead and add the tofu cubes and stir, then blend the cup of fresh tomatoes – this will make the sauce thick and rich. Cook for about 15 minutes.

Now add the sauce to the cooked beans and let simmer for a few more minutes. Serve alone or over a bed of Basmati or wild rice. Since vegetarian chili is protein rich, a spinach or green salad is a good addition.

Extra Hot Vegetarian Chili Recipe:

If you want spicier chili, then use the same recipe as above, but omit the zucchini, eggplant, corn and tofu, and just include the onion, garlic, mushrooms, peppers, beans and tomatoes. Then, spice it up with habanero sauce. You can add as much as you like to give your vegetarian chili a real kick!