Redefining Tradition: Food For Thought For This Thursday

Friends, like I always say: It’s not my job to question your beliefs. But, on a certain level, I like to think that it is my job to get you to question them. One key area I like to bring under scrutiny is in our various traditions.

Now, I’m all for the concept of traditions because they connect us to our past, enable us to honor those before us and provide occasion for social ritual. All good. However, with every tradition we choose to participate in, I believe there are two fundamental questions that must be asked:

1. Does this tradition still support or reflect the nature of who I am (or we are) today?

If yes, then;

2. Does the traditional way that we celebrate this tradition support or reflect the nature of who we are today?

So let’s take Thanksgiving, for example. For me, I answer “yes” to number one. A special day set aside to count our blessings? Absolutely. But as you might imagine, number two is a different story for me. This idea of gathering around a table with friends and loved ones with a dead bird or a Honeybaked ham in the middle of the table has not resonated with me for some time now, even though I grew up around such a tradition. The notion of a celebration where the actual centerpiece of the tradition represents extreme violence and zero regard for the life of this animal being, seems radically outdated, given where we’re all heading as a more evolved society.

This is why for years now, I’ve gone out of my way to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends in an environment completely devoid of dead animals or their byproducts. In fact, for the past few years, we’ve even had a tradition here in LA where, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, we gather over at Animal Acres (farm animal sanctuary) and enjoy an elaborate, Thanksgiving-style vegan meal amongst live turkeys, pigs and other farm animals.

Sound like a bizarre idea? Why? How many folks enjoy their holiday dinners with their dogs or cats nearby? And when you think about, what’s really the difference between companion animals and farm animals…except for how we as a culture have been raised to perceive them? I’m telling you, when you get to know turkeys and these other critters up close and personal, you no longer want to eat them, any more than you would want to eat a poodle.

If you’re interested in any more on the subject, including some delicious Thanksgiving Day meal alternatives, scope this out:

http://www.veggiezone.com/thanksgiving.html

Again, I’m not trying to tell you how to celebrate. You must defer to your own intuition and conscious here, as always. This is all just meant to get the wheels spinning inside your head if they’re not already. And I do realize this can be a very complex situation, given how vested our family members, friends and loved ones can be in the “traditional” aspects of Thanksgiving.

Still…

The 48-Hour Rule

If you’re currently lifting weights or doing any kind of resistance training of note, don’t forget: Any given muscle group (except calves and abdominals) will need at least 48 hours to recover between workouts. Many enthusiastic novices train the same body parts everyday, thinking that this will garner better results. Actually, the opposite is true, because they are not allowing the body ample time to fully rebuild the muscle fiber that was broken down during their last session. So, since you actually make your gains away from the gym, wait at least 48 hours before you hit that same muscle group again, and even longer if you’re really hittin’ it hard.

As mentioned, calves and abs are a different story because they’re comprised of a different type of fiber. Still, I like to have a day of rest between calf and ab work, as well, especially if they’re still sore from the day before.

Until next time…

The 48-Hour Rule

If you’re currently lifting weights or doing any kind of resistance training of note, don’t forget: Any given muscle group (except calves and abdominals) will need at least 48 hours to recover between workouts. Many enthusiastic novices train the same body parts everyday, thinking that this will garner better results. Actually, the opposite is true, because they are not allowing the body ample time to fully rebuild the muscle fiber that was broken down during their last session. So, since you actually make your gains away from the gym, wait at least 48 hours before you hit that same muscle group again, and even longer if you’re really hittin’ it hard.

As mentioned, calves and abs are a different story because they’re comprised of a different type of fiber. Still, I like to have a day of rest between calf and ab work, as well, especially if they’re still sore from the day before.

Until next time…

Flour on Fur?

Just caught a news item today about how some activists doused Lindsay Lohan with a bunch of flour at some club in Paris because she was wearing a fur stole.

People…can we knock this shit off already?

Listen, I‘m the first to admit that I cringe at the sight of someone wearing fur or even leather. Not so much at the person wearing it, but at the item itself. This is mainly because I’m acutely aware of how such a piece of clothing found its way into the world…of the level of violence and ill-regard for life that it represents. And I know many animal advocates who share these feelings. But why in the hell would we want to propagate more “violence and ill-regard” in response to it? Think about it: Someone attacks a human because they’re wearing something that represents the attack of an animal? There is a serious conflict here.

I know this is an emotional subject, and some folk’s instinct is to try to forcefully enlighten the “perpetrator” about the evils of their clothing choice…for the sake of the animals, of course. Well, here’s a newsflash: This doesn’t work! It never has and it never will. It just sets the movement back a generation and makes all of us animal advocates look like a bunch of fucking domestic terrorists.

Voltaire, Gandhi, Dr. King, Jr. and scores of other non-violent activists through the centuries have learned that with every action there is an underlying intention or energy. When we cultivate separation and anger with an action, those energies outlive the act itself. Then – when the smoke clears – all we’re left with is more separation and anger…and a bewildered public who ignores the message as they ridicule the messenger.

Personally speaking, I recognize that someone wearing fur or leather either 1) isn’t fully aware of what’s behind the creation of these products, 2) is aware, but (like so many of us in other areas of our life) is in denial and/or not ready to address it yet, or 3) has a different philosophy about the role of animals in our world. In any case, that’s their journey, that’s their business, and it’s not my place to damage their belongings or humiliate them in public as a way of imposing my belief system on them. Instead, I will use the appropriate forum to make my case and trust that, when and if the time is right for them, they will find my forum (or someone else’s) and proceed from there, just as we all have in any of a number of important life crossroads.

So, please, to all of those well-intentioned knuckleheads out there plotting their next public display of ignorance; let’s update the strategy, okay? Let’s find a more productive platform to channel all that anger. And let’s proceed with a pro-animal energy – as opposed to an anti-fur energy – so that the message will overshadow the messenger. For the sake of the animals…

A Quick Crash Course on Vitamin B-12

As one of the only nutrients that is truly tough to find in the plant-based diet these days, B-12 remains at the heart of the omnivore vs. herbivore controversy.  Here’s the lowdown:

B-12 is a bacterial-created vitamin found primarily in soil and critical for proper neurological function and healthy arteries. In a perfect world, the microscopic soil particles which cling to raw garden vegetables (even after they have been washed) would provide all the B-12 we would ever need.  We would even find an abundance of it in our mountain streams and well water sources. However, given the current industrial production methodologies of our produce, along with the chlorination processes that most of our modern drinking water undergoes, we are clearly getting far less B-12 than we normally would.

Yes, meat-eaters are likely to ingest a fair quantity of B-12 because farmed animals have eaten plants and/or a variety of other suspect ingredients with these particles either clinging to them or part of the ingredients.  (And by the way, when it’s part of the ingredients, it’s usually a safe bet that its origin is from the bacterial contamination so prevalent in factory farm animal feed, which often includes other ground up animals!)

Of course, the overall ramifications of the meat-based diet far outweigh the benefits of picking up a little B-12. In fact, we require such a minuscule amount of B-12 that the organisms in our own mouths and intestines can often reproduce an abundance of it, so long as 1) we have some form of it coming in from our food and/or supplements and 2) we maintain a healthy enough internal environment.

Let’s address these two issues briefly:

1) Food/Supplements: As for dietary sources, enriched soy milk and breakfast cereals, as well as Red Star nutritional yeast, are some of the most reliable places to find B-12. Certain vegan “meat” products have a fair amount, as well. And remember, we only require a few micrograms a day.  However, just to be on the safe side, I recommend that you simply dissolve a 2000 mcg. B-12 tablet under your tongue once a week.  (My favorite brand is Solaray, although most any one from the health food store will do.)

By the way, the reason you would take such a high dose in a supplement is because the higher the dose, the less you absorb. So you would either take low doses consistently – 15 to 20 mcgs. daily – or high doses less often.  Taking one 2000 mcg. pill a week is a simpler solution.

Hot Tip: If you feel like your B-12 intake has been questionable, pop a 2000 mcg. tablet every day or two for three or four weeks before settling into this suggested weekly regimen.  This will help jumpstart your B-12 efforts.

2. Absorption/Assimilation: When most people talk about B-12, the focus tends to be on sources and amounts.  But there is actually a whole other side to the discussion, and it has to do with your internal environment and its ability to properly process and absorb B-12.  Here’s what I mean:

The intestinal microbes that actually produce B-12 within our bodies rely on carbohydrates as their food source.  When folks forsake getting the proper amount of carbs as their fat intake skyrockets, a couple bad things happen.  First, these B-12 producing microbe colonies shrink and simply produce less B-12.  Second, the actual B-12 uptake sites become coated in fat and our bodies have trouble assimilating even the reduced amounts of B-12 that our bodies do produce.

Some of the most quantifiable evidence of this phenomenon can be seen in the work of raw food expert, Dr. Douglas Graham.  He reports that, on a number of occasions, he’s placed folks with questionable B-12 levels on a strict water fast, where they’ve gone without food all together for a given amount of time.  But then, upon retesting, they find that their B-12 levels actually increased, even though there was zero B-12 coming in via outside food sources!  And this is only one example about how our diet and lifestyle can affect assimilation.

B-12 bottom-line? Eat B-12 enriched foods when possible, pop a 2000 mcg. B-12 tablet once a week, and watch your overall fat intake.

The Big Shift

Well, friends, I guess tonight is as good as any to resume the blog. Thank you all for your patience, support, e-mails and continued interest.

On a personal note, these past few months have been an extraordinary time for contemplation and reflection…for pondering a deeper context for my work, life, and “mission,” as it were. Not sure what it’s all going to look like in the end, but I feel like, for now, this blog remains an excellent medium for an important ongoing dialog. Again, that you all for being a part of it.

Tuesday night, many of us felt The Big Shift. Never mind your personal politics, this was really something to behold in our lifetime. To think that I was born into a world where folks of color were not even allowed to vote still blows me the fuck away. But – this week has represented a huge shift in our collective consciousness.

I know this was a profound victory for all of us, but to see all of our black brothers and sisters in Chicago and elsewhere celebrating with such pure elation…it really hit me hard; especially after growing up in Houston in the 70’s, where the quintessential redneck mentality of prejudice and division was still bubbling beneath the surface. The result of this election was a huge step in an ongoing healing process.

As some of you may know, I’ve been a huge Obama supporter. But I noticed how cynical I had become to our democratic process. Even in light of what all the pundits and polls said, I was sweatin’ it out till the day of, wondering how or if the “Big White Ghost of the Replica” might somehow, someway, “influence” another election. But man…when I saw all those two and three-hour lines on CNN start forming back East at 7:00 AM Tuesday morning, something told me that we had hit critical mass on this thing, and that the pendulum had swung too far the other direction for anything or anyone to stop it. And by the time I got to the booth mid-afternoon, you could just feel it in the air.

What does all of this have to do with what we normally talk about around here? Everything. What we experienced this week was more than a political process, or even a democratic process. It’s an “every vote matters” referendum on the importance of every individual getting their ass off the couch and into action as a way of crystallizing what they believe in. It doesn’t matter who you voted for…just that you made the effort to participate in a system that, like it or not, we are all a part of.

It took me a long time to get this…where politics is concerned. But I believe I’ve understood the importance of this ideal regarding our daily lifestyle choices. So here is where a poignant parallel can be made; we always hear about how every vote counts in the democratic process and how it’s our civic duty to participate. Fair enough. But I say the same applies to every daily action we take, particularly when there are fundamental humanitarian, ethical and environmental ramifications attached to them. Many have yet to make this connection.

For example, regarding someone making a vegan food choice – if only one meal at a time – many people retort, “But how will my insignificant little choice possibly make a difference to the 12 billion animals that are killed in the US every year?” I say, the same way that everyone’s “insignificant” little vote mattered on Tuesday. Because as we engage a process at a one-at-a-time micro level, large-scale change is eventually mirrored on a macro level. That’s how it works, but it will only happen on this larger scale macro level when there are enough of us “voting,” and critical mass is reached.

Additionally, an election may be won in some cases due to all of those who DIDN’T get off the couch and go vote. This demonstrates how our inactivity – and the accompanying statement of apathy – can be made manifest in the world, as well. So even if we choose not to participate in a process of which we are all clearly a part, we’re still casting a vote, so to speak.

My point here is simply to underscore the big picture importance of every single choice we make, from one moment to the next; a kind gesture, an act of forgiveness, a recycled bottle, feeding a hungry human or feral cat, and yes, even a single vegan snack or meal choice. All of these things cast a vote for a more compassionate and peaceful world. Every single action we take is affecting some being, somewhere. Every single action means something…even if we can’t see it.

The next Big Shift awaits….

PS. For an inspiring spiritual and historical look at election night ‘08, check out author/speaker Marianne Williamson’s recent blog here:

http://www.mwblog.com/journal/archives/2008/11/yes_we_did.php