Vegan diets have never been more popular. Evidence is mounting that a plant-based diet is demonstrably better for the earth and for you. In addition to the fact that going vegan reduces animal suffering, did you know that it may be the surest path to clear, glowing skin?

Why is a plant-based diet so good for your complexion? In a nutshell, a healthy vegan diet is high in vitamins and fiber, chock full of antioxidants, and totally devoid of harmful saturated fats. It’s an unbeatable combination.

It’s not just the result of getting rid of the bad things you’ll eliminate on a vegan diet; the good things you’ll begin to eat in more abundance provide innumerable benefits. A well-balanced plant-based diet can give you an almost magical radiance.

Meat, Dairy, and Eggs: Enemies of Healthy Skin

Dropping meat, dairy, and eggs from your diet eliminates artery-clogging saturated fat, which is found almost exclusively in animal products. In addition, remember that the meat and dairy industries have ramped up their use of growth hormones and antibiotics over the last decade. Current industrial farming practices augment poultry and livestock feed with hormones to encourage faster growth and heavier, meatier animals.

Antibiotics are also added to the mix to combat the filthy, unhygienic conditions in which these animals are often kept. Did you know that the Food and Drug Administration has reported that farm animals consume about 80 percent of the antibiotics used in the United States? Every time you eat an animal product that comes from industrialized factory farming, you are ingesting these hormones and antibiotics.

Some studies tie consumption of dairy products to acne. It is believed the lactose contained in milk causes insulin in the body to spike dramatically upward, similar to the effect a large intake of sugar would have. Pimples are the almost inevitable result.

For all of these reasons, if you want clear, healthy skin, consider transitioning to a plant-based diet.

The Bountiful Goodness of Fruits, Vegetables, and Legumes

A healthy vegan diet is packed with vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, seeds, and legumes. These dietary powerhouses provide all the essential vitamins, nutrients and protein you need for luminous skin and good health.

A balanced vegan diet will ensure you get plenty of foods with the necessary antioxidants and vitamins to promote a healthy glow. Antioxidants fight free radicals that damage and age the skin’s cells. Vitamins E, A, and C each contain beneficial antioxidant properties. You can get your Vitamin E by eating dark greens like spinach and Swiss chard, as well as blueberries, blackberries, almonds, walnuts and sunflower seeds.

Vitamin C jump-starts your body’s collagen production, which is fundamental for a youthful appearance. Find Vitamin C in abundance in citrus fruits, broccoli, kale, strawberries, cantaloupe, and many other plant-based sources.

Vitamin A, critical for skin repair, is made by the body from the betacarotene in vegetables like carrots, spinach, turnip greens, and sweet potatoes, and from the lycopene in tomatoes.

High fiber foods like whole grains and legumes, which make up a significant percentage of the vegan diet, help keep the skin supple by holding water and eliminating toxins. Legumes like soy, beans, nuts, peas, and lentils offer more than enough healthy protein to replace animal sources. Vegans often eat more nuts and seeds than non-vegans. This is a boon to the skin, as the zinc found in certain seeds and nuts affects the skin’s oil production and can help put an end to embarrassing breakouts.

Vegans tend to consume a lot more soy than omnivores by regularly eating foods like tempeh, tofu, and miso. Increased soy consumption can benefit your skin because soy isoflavones prompt greater hyaluronan production by your body. The collagen and elastin fibers in your skin need hyaluronan to remain firm, clear, and wrinkle-free.

It’s little wonder so many people are turning to a plant-based diet. In addition to being eco-friendly and cruelty-free, the health benefits are undeniable. Consider going vegan—the animals will thank you and so will your skin!

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•  Image credit Cheap photos

Carla Garner is a skin-care blogger, currently based in Houston, Texas. Concerned about harmful UV rays and their affects on her skin, she recently consulted with Sun Tech Glass Tinting to find a great window film for her Houston home.

The banana was used as food first in Southeast Asia, and it is widely believed that in some parts of Malaysia it was initially used as food. From there the banana  became one of the most popular fruits and foods in the world. The banana was the first fruit cultivated by humans, and it was first cultivated in some areas of Papua New Guinea. The first historic proof that the banana was available for food was in the writings of Buddhists in the 6th century BC. The evidence of bananas is also available in old books of other religions such as Hinduism, Islam, and the Romans. However, it is believed that the color of the banana in ancient times was different from what we see today. The bananas at that time were red and green; however, the banana we eat today was discovered in 1836 by Jean Francois in Jamaica.  

How the Name “Banana” Started

The study shows that it was Arab traders who developed the name “banana” for this fruit. Initially, the size of the banana was very small, just as large as a human finger. In Arabic “banan” means “figure.” Some other experts disagree with this theory, and they believe the name “banana” came from an African language. There is a group of experts that believes that the name “banana “ was derived from its Guinean name “banema.”  

Bananas Are Mutants

Initially, the banana did not have as sweet a taste as we believe now. The historic banana was red and green, and there is a variety of that banana still available known as plantains which we use in cooking. The yellow banana is just a mutant strain of that original banana. The sweet banana became a more popular fruit all over the world because it does not need to be cooked and you can eat it raw. Though this sweet banana was originally from the Jamaican Caribbean, but soon it became popular all over the world, and the  cultivation of this fruit begins in the different parts of the world.  

Banana As a Staple Fruit

In 1876, the sweet banana was introduced in a fruit exhibition in Philadelphia, USA. In that exhibition, people liked this new fruit so much,and each banana was sold for 10 cents. Ever since then, the banana was considered a staple fruit, and at the start of the 20th century, the import and export of bananas took place at commercial grounds.

Today, the banana is not only a major fruit all over the world, but it is an important part of our food. The cultivation of banana is taking place all over the world especially in subtropical and tropical regions. There are many recipes for banana available, and you can include them in cakes, desserts, and even with snacks. You can find bananas in every part of the world, and people of all ages and genders love to eat this delicious, nutritious fruit. People love to eat bananas when they are unable to eat breakfast or lunch.

Sathya, G is an avid blogger always looking to share his experiences and recommendations. He promotes a healthy lifestyle full of eating right and exercise. You can follow him on Twitter @examinet.

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There are many vegetables out there that boast a long list of benefits to human beings thanks to their minerals, nutrients, and other healthy compounds, and carrots rank as one of the best among them in many ways! If you need to get a fix of the orange stuff, do it in style; here are five of the most delicious carrot dishes:

1. Glazed Carrots

While their simplicity makes them great for a quick snack – you can eat them raw out of the ground, after all – it is the very crunchiness and general toughness of carrots that have people often shunning them in the name of less healthy snacks, but glazing your carrots via a quick boil can make all of the difference in the world, in all of taste, texture, and time!

2. Carrot Macaroni and Cheese

Recipes vary and exact ingredients necessarily follow, but a carrot macaroni and cheese dish really is just as simple as it sounds! Typically created by mixing shredded raw carrots throughout a macaroni and cheese dish before baking, there are some who prefer carrot chunks – morsels that promise to become soft and juicy in the oven. Either way, the dish manages to combine heavy cheese with healthy vegetables to great effect, making every bite a medley of both the garden, and the world’s favorite meal.

Besides being delicious, a carrot macaroni and cheese casserole also presents a great opportunity to pass a little vitamin C, beta carotene, and other healthy compounds into your meal without needing to “eat healthy” at all!.

3. Roasted Carrots

Roasting fresh carrots is another excellent way to tenderize them for easier eating, and the ability to throw in the spices of your choice when you do means that you can easily narrow the taste down to something you love with minimal effort!

4. Carrot Cake

It wouldn’t make sense to top off any such list with anything other than carrot cake, giving you a sweet end to a salty, delicious breakdown of the best carrot dishes ever! While there are many varieties of carrot cake, depending on the recipe that you choose to follow, each blends the veggie taste and texture of carrot with sweet cake and rich icing to great effect, making for a prime dessert following any meal.

5. Carrot Casserole with Cheese

Open to your own favorite interpretation, carrot and cheese casseroles are generally thickened up with bread crumbs, along with copious amounts of shredded carrots. Onions and celery are popular veggies to slice throughout, but the real taste comes from the dish’s second namesake: lots and lots of melted cheese!

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When it comes to lasagna, most everyone expects meat to be included in the meal; luckily, as is the case with most other foods, experimenting with no meat at all can reveal fantastic new veggie-based dishes in an instant! If you’ve got Italian on the brain, here is one of the most tasty vegetarian lasagna recipes:

Vegetarian Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna Recipe

Easily one of the most raved about varieties of vegetarian lasagna, this recipe is full of the spinach, mushrooms, and cheese that are needed to create a thick, heavy, and always-hearty texture that disguises the missing meat for those who may expect it.

First of all, this is a complicated dish that produces a deep, complicated taste, so we’re going to need more than a few ingredients to get the job done:

1. 1 cup chopped onions
2. 1 ½ lbs chopped cremini mushrooms
3. 1 cup chopped onions
4. 1 teaspoon salt
5. 1 cup water
6. 4 cloves chopped garlic
7. 6 ounces tomato paste
8. ¼ cup olive oil
9. 28 ounce crushed tomatoes
10. 2 cups tomato sauce
11. 1 tablespoon dried thyme
12. ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
13. 1 tablespoon sugar
14. 20 ounces fresh chopped spinach
15. ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
16. ¼ pound grated parmesan cheese
17. 1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese
18. 1 lb lasagna noodles

Instructions

1. First things first! Set a large pot of salted water to boil; this will handle the pasta. As you wait for the water to boil, you can get to work on getting everything else prepped and ready to go.

2. Set a large saute pan on high or medium high heat, and then add the mushrooms, spreading them evenly and then using a wooden spoon to move them about regularly as they fry. No frying liquid is necessary, as the mushrooms will release their own water into the pan. Once you see this water released, throw in your chopped onions and stir them in evenly. Cook until the mushroom water has boiled away.

3. Now, throw your olive oil over the mushrooms and onions and saute them for about a minute. That done, add in your chopped garlic and allow things to sizzle for another minute or so. Set aside a single cup of your tomato sauce for later use, then pour the remainder into the pan. Finally, stir in your tomato paste and allow the pan to cook for another minute.

4. With your sauteing done, you’ll now add your crushed tomatoes, a cup of water, thyme, basil, and red pepper flakes. Bring the entire mixture to a high simmer, then switch to low simmer for about 20 minutes.

5. With your sauce simmering and your pasta water boiling, add salt to the water and add your lasagna noodles, stirring gently in order to separate them without damage, and following the instructions provided on their packaging in determining cook time. Once done, remove and carefully rinse the noodles, laying them evenly on a pair of baking sheets that have been coated with a minimum amount of olive oil.

6. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While waiting, spread that remaining cup of tomato sauce into the bottom of a large casserole dish. Once done, layer the lasagna noodles in the dish, then sprinkle half of your parmesan cheese atop them. Now, add a thin layer of freshly chopped spinach, followed by half of the mozzarella cheese. Finally, add about a third of your mushroom sauce on top of the cheese, with half of your fresh basil following that.

7. Repeat the entire layering process, using all remaining ingredients in the same way as the original layer, finalizing the dish and leaving it ready for baking.

8. Cover your casserole dish with a large sheet of aluminum foil, with just a touch of olive oil coating the inside in able to protect against sticking. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, then remove the foil, and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes.

With all of that behind you, you’re free to enjoy your tasty vegetarian lasagna!

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One of the main things I miss from a non lactose/gluten free diet is cakes. Milk and butter are such an integral part of baking we don’t really have many ways around this. However after some research and constant tweaking and tinkering in the kitchen I have found a great chocolate cupcake recipe that is sure to please.

One of the important things to check for when doing this recipe – is that your cocoa mix is vegetarian and vegan friendly and doesn’t contain milk or “traces of milk”. Once that is out of the way you should be fine. cadburys have a great coca mix that is in a red tub. This recipe makes great cupcakes and you can do whatever you like with them after as if they were real normal cupcakes. You can even add in fruit or nuts to change the recipe up a little.

You Will Make:

12 muffin size
24 mini
16 normal cupcakes.

You Will Need

350g self raising flour (gluten free of desired)
1tea spoon Baking Powder
135ml Sunflower Oil
375ml Water
1tbsp demerara sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp cocoa powder. (or to taste once you’ve tried this recipe out)
Other flavours of your choice if preferred

Prepare by:

Getting your oven preheated to 190 Or Gas Mark 5 and lining your tins and cases as needed. Silicone trays need less greasing but I would still recommend adding a little.

Mix the first of your dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. This would be your baking powder and flour at this stage. Now mix in the caster sugar and cocoa powder and give it a good mix. Any other dry ingredients should also be added in at this stage. Make sure it is all mixed together well. A quick mix with a hand whisk should be more than enough.

Now add in the wet ingredients you have. Mix in the oil and water slowly. Once you have a nice thick mix you can add in vanilla essence too. You can also add in food colouring too if you’re using it.

Now fill your cupcake cases about one half to a third full as they will rise during the cooking process.

Timings:
7-10 Minutes in a mini cupcake maker
10-12 in the oven for mini cupcakes
12-15 for normal cupcake size
15-20 for muffin sized cakes.

Check the cakes are cooked through by using a skewer in the middle of the cakes and seeing if it comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes when done and then transfer to a wire rack.

These cakes can be iced and decorated as normal.

Gareth is a writer and passionate baker when he has the time and is writing for Cotswold Fayre who are high quality food wholesalers supplying food across the UK to many stores.

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In a modern world filled with more types and varieties of food than you can shake a stick (or a fork) at, making healthy choices has quickly lead to seven billion people around the world with eating preferences so different that they often don’t connect, leading to trouble at the dinner table when everyone comes together. This is particularly true where the rising prevalence of vegetarianism is concerned; there are more than 30 million human herbivores in North America alone, making for an outnumbered, but still impressive group.

Whether you’re a meat-eater entertaining herbivores, or a vegetarian playing host to carnivores, you’ll need to be quick on your feet if you really want to make everyone happy! Here are three tips on how to deal with non-vegetarian relatives:

1. Heavy and Hot Wins the Race

When it comes to pleasing meat eaters with non-meat dishes, the best approach outside of offering every imaginable variety of faux meat is to focus on providing your guests with hot and heavy dishes. Meals like pasta with a thick sauce, and bakes and casseroles with hearty vegetables like potatoes make for a rich, nicely textured meal that will have them forgetting all about the meat that they’re missing out on.

Sure, there may be a guest that misses the ground meat in their pasta sauce, or another that would normally like a juicy steak with their serving of casserole, but the majority will be won over by the new tastes that they’ll be experiencing, not to mention the full belly that they’ll be sporting afterwards.

2. Switch Things Up

Giving you the best possible chance of pleasing everyone, even those aforementioned picky eaters that recognize your table’s missing meat, you’ll want to be sure to whip up a relatively long menu in order to be sure that you cater to every taste without the need to resort to meat. What you serve is up to you; meat eater or not, no one can resist the sheer attractiveness of a buffet!

3. Above All Else, Be Respectful and Understanding

No matter what tactics you use to please the taste buds of your company, carnivore and otherwise, the most effective tool at your disposal in your battle to make everyone happy is simple understanding. The world is a varied place full of equally varied people, and the many cultures, ideas, goals, religions, beliefs, and views that we share between us mean that being a good global citizen is really all you need to make everyone at your table feel welcome – though delicious food runs as a very close second to this positive attitude!

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If you’ve got a vegetarian in your life that you’d like to please, check out these top five vegetarian desserts to treat your sweetie:

1. Peanut Butter and Jam Nanaimo Bars

Everyone loves a good nanaimo bar – there’s certainly no sweeter way to express your love for someone- and choosing your own ingredients means that you can make them as veggie-friendly as needed!

All you’ll need to whip up this treat is peanut butter, jam, chocolate, and graham crackers – consider the gluten-free variety if you’d like to take things up a notch to the realm of vegan-friendly! The end result, after being refrigerated, are delightful treats that are as unhealthy as they are tasty – so go easy on them!

2. No-Bake Date Squares

These delicious treats bring together the best of ease and taste, giving you full-fledged, vegetarian-friendly date squares without even the need to turn on the oven!

You’ll be using dates and coconut oil in order to achieve a sweet taste, so, while not exactly healthy, these no-bake dates will have all of the flavor of their processed cousins without all of the nasty additives – plus they’re a breeze to make!

3. Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Providing a sweet, yet healthy treat, a pumpkin pie made with natural sweeteners is a great way to spark a gleam in the eye of a vegetarian, and using a gluten-free crust will impress any vegans in the vicinity, as well!

4. Strawberry Oat Squares

Fancy something to set your sweetie’s mouth to watering? These strawberry oat squares are entirely vegetarian-friendly, and offer the added bonus of being made of any ingredients you prefer if you make them from scratch.

The oat base can be a bit of a test in kitchen skill, but you’ll be able to whip up big batches on demand once you’ve got the process down, and the homemade jam is easy as pie to make from fresh strawberries!

5. Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

For a sure positive reaction from your loved one, you can always fall back on good old fashioned chocolate cookies – this time with an extra healthy twist. By using non-dairy butter spread and a flax egg in place of your regular ingredients, you’ll be able to create a batch of cookies that even the staunchest of vegans will love!

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When it comes to improving your diet and adding the most healthy positive ingredients to it, you’ve got to take everything into account. While this makes for lots of options, it can also lead to lots of confusion regarding what is beneficial and what isn’t, and this is very true in the case of celeriac.

A root celery closely related to the vegetable that we all know well, celeriac is unique in that it grows a huge, bulbous root, and it is this root that has become the focus of nutritionists over the past few years, leaving us with the question: is celeriac actually good for you?

The answer is a resounding “yes” – here are the goods on celeriac and why you should start adding it to your salads right away:

1. High in Nutritional Value, Low in Calories

Adding copious amounts of minerals, vitamins, and dietary fibre to your meals can often mean offsetting things with a high calorie count, but celeriac is an exception this rule. No matter how you cut it, you can easily take in lots of healthy goodness from this root without overwhelming your system with more calories to burn.

2. Potential Anti-Cancer Properties

The scientists are still out on the details, but preliminary studies indicate that celeriac could have beneficial effects in the battle against cancer, specifically appearing to offer protection against colon cancer and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Given the rising prevalence of cancer around the world, this is reason enough to sprinkle a touch of ground celeriac on your next salad!

3. Essential Minerals? Celeriac’s Got Them

Finding good sources of phosphorus, calcium, copper, iron, and manganese can be difficult, especially if you’re limited to only vegetable sources, but celeriac has all of these essential minerals in abundance. By simply adding a bit of crushed or sliced celeriac to your salad, you’re giving yourself a huge boost in many of the substances that you need to physically thrive!

4. Lots of Vitamin K

A compound known to help increase bone density through its triggering of osteotrophic activity in human bones, vitamin k is a difficult to thing to find in many foods, but celeriac has more than enough – 34 percent of your recommended daily intake in only 100 grams of the root!

Besides its positive effects on bones, vitamin k is also thought to be a powerful agent in reducing the affects of alzheimer’s disease on the brain, making celeriac an extra important salad bowl addition as we age.

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Forget what you’ve heard: being a vegetarian doesn’t mean giving up on delicious treats and snacks, it just means being innovative for the sake of your body! To prove our point, here are simple recipes for five awesome vegetarian snacks:

1. Cheese and Crackers

Sure, it’s such a common snack that it’s hardly worth mentioning at all, but one should never underestimate the sheer simplicity and deliciousness of good old fashioned cheese and crackers. With more varieties of each component available than any one of us could possibly eat, it’s easy to take things from simple to extraordinary, and adding a vegetable into the mix is a fun and healthy way to spice things up!

Recipe: Place one piece of cheese on one cracker and enjoy.

2. Bread and Dip

In you’re particularly hungry, the heaviness of bread and dip may be just what you need. Anything from crackers to homemade white bread will do here, and you can improvise with the dip of your choice – preferably a healthy one!

Recipe: Dip your bread of choice into your dip of choice and enjoy.

3. Apple Sandwich

It may sound a little crazy at first glance, but apple sandwiches are wonderful if prepared just so! If the idea sounds a bit bland to you, consider adding peanut butter to the mix.

Recipe: Spread almond butter onto two pieces of bread, covering with thin to medium-thick slices of apple. Peanut butter is optional – and delicious!

4. Chocolate Apples

Sticking with the apple theme for a moment, imagine a yummy green apple covered in melted chocolate and coated with crunchy peanuts. Sounds good, right? Thankfully, it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare!

Recipe: Melt a small amount of chocolate chips in the microwave, and have a freshly washed whole green apple ready for the beep! Pour the melted chocolate gently over the apple, then add peanuts to the outside for an extra crunch.

5. Homemade Potato Chips

Instead of indulging in the fattening store-bought variety, just a bit of work in the kitchen will provide you with a full plate of homemade potato chips.

Recipe: Thinly slice a potato, lightly dashing your finished slices with salt and pepper. With your oven at medium heat, place your chips in for about 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. For added flavor, you can also consider adding a unique flare to the chips during baking, such as a few drops of vinegar, or the crushed spice of your choice!

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Imagine having a perfectly lovely evening with friends, when one of them decides to order in a pizza — only they’re all pepperoni-lovers and you’re a hard-core vegetarian.  Now you’re stuck either going hungry and feeling left-out, or paying for your own separate pizza and feeling weird about it.

This nightmare doesn’t have to be your reality.  Instead, when everyone else grabs the delivery menus, just follow these tips.  That way, you’ll get to eat vegetarian meals AND take part in the fun!

1.  Explore new foods

If you think ordering in only means getting pizza and Chinese, think again.  More and more restaurants are catering to vegetarians these days — especially in bigger cities.  By checking out the order-in options beyond the ol’ standbys, you’ll get to broaden your food horizons.  Who knows, you might even find a new favorite!

2.  Give it another shot

Just because the veggie burgers at one place were gross doesn’t mean that all veggie burgers are gross.  Give ‘em another shot someplace else.  You may discover one restaurant uses spices that make your burger flat-out delicious!

3.  Go upscale

These days, the convenience of ordering in isn’t just something that super-cheap places offer.  Many upscale restaurants now deliver. 

Even better news?  Fancier restaurants tend to have special vegetarian menus.  Or, at the very least, they’ll be happy to substitute ingredients so that your final product is vegetarian.

4.  Head east

…to the Middle East, that is!  Indian food, in particular, is chock full of awesome spices that can dress up tofu and other meatless alternatives.  Garbanzo beans are also a staple in Indian cuisine, so you can get all of the protein you need, without having to order meat.

5.  Don’t forget about your old favorites

Used to love pork fried rice before you went vegetarian?  Look for a Chinese delivery place that has a vegetarian version.  In fact, more and more Chinese restaurants are serving up vegetarian Chow Mein and Chop Suey — so you can still get the same flavors as your old favorites, without compromising your new diet.

And, in keeping with tip #1, combine some of those old favorites with new stuff.  For example, add a side of garlic broccoli, sesame noodles, or steamed veggie dumplings to your Chow Mein entrée, and eat up!

Now that you know what to do, what are you waiting for?  Curl up on the couch and order food online for some dinner!

Nicole Beckett is a former journalist who is passionate about lifestyle, with a wide set of interests ranging from parenting and home economics, to fashion, travel, and urban life – Nicole has written several articles on how easy and healthy it is to order food online.

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