cautious benefit

[Volenta]

What's the ingredient list of the kind you like?

Too many: (hope I didn't make a translation error)
Water, peeled soy beans (7,9%), sugar, calcium citrate, stabilizer (pectin), acidity regulator (sodium citrate, citric acid), sea salt, antioxidants (tocopherol extracts, ascorbyl palmitate), vitamin (B12, D2), yogurt cultures / -ferments (S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus).

Can you buy probiotics nearby? Using a powder is much easier than trying to reserve a culture from batch to batch. Although reserving a bit is also free...

Not sure, I've only found some capsules online.

Also: Try soaking the soybeans, then rinsing, first when you make the soymilk. That might help reduce the beaniness which some people don't like.

I'm already doing that. Would it make a difference to remove the hulls? Not sure if they have influence on the taste.

[miniboes]

What's the ingredient list of the kind you like?

Too many: (hope I didn't make a translation error)
Water, peeled soy beans (7,9%), sugar, calcium citrate, stabilizer (pectin), acidity regulator (sodium citrate, citric acid), sea salt, antioxidants (tocopherol extracts, ascorbyl palmitate), vitamin (B12, D2), yogurt cultures / -ferments (S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus).

That's the Alpro simply pain soy yoghurt right? Their site can be in English if you go up to the languages tab.
http://www.alpro.com/uk/yoghurt-alternative/pots/plain

That stuff is pretty delicious (I had the cherry variant once).

[Volenta]

Do you guys eat a lot of fruit/nuts?

I eat at least one fruit piece a day and sometimes like to eat nuts as snack. Occasionally I use cashews in a meal, but I think they are too expensive for a regular basis.

What is your main source of calories?

Oatmeal in the morning. Bread as lunch (occasionally soup), especially with peanut butter. In the evening I mostly use things with rice, pasta or tortilla as a basis; and then vegetables and something saucy, often with mushrooms and/or beans. People in the Netherlands eat a lot of potatoes as part of their dinner as you certainly know, but I don't eat like that very often (because it forces you to use a meat substitute). I mostly eat foreign meals (Asian, Italian, ...).

That's the Alpro simply pain soy yoghurt right? Their site can be in English if you go up to the languages tab.
http://www.alpro.com/uk/yoghurt-alternative/pots/plain

That stuff is pretty delicious (I had the cherry variant once).

Yes, you're right. I'm still not sure whether the 'cup' and carton format actually contain the same yogurt. In my experience the carton format tastes better (less soyish, pretty much like dairy yogurt).

I really like the plain, vanilla (the carton one) and the blue berries.

[miniboes]

Oatmeal in the morning. Bread as lunch (occasionally soup), especially with peanut butter. In the evening I mostly use things with rice, pasta or tortilla as a basis; and then vegetables and something saucy, often with mushrooms and/or beans. People in the Netherlands eat a lot of potatoes as part of their dinner as you certainly know, but I don't eat like that very often (because it forces you to use a meat substitute). I mostly eat foreign meals (Asian, Italian, ...).

I am a big fan of peanut butter an tortillas, but there's a lot of oil in those two things. Are you concerned with that at all, or do you make them yourself?

I really like the plain, vanilla (the carton one) and the blue berries.

So pretty much every single one I have not tried xD

[Volenta]

I am a big fan of peanut butter an tortillas, but there's a lot of oil in those two things. Are you concerned with that at all, or do you make them yourself?

There's nothing wrong with oil, it's mostly unsaturated fats in peanut butter. If you need to be convinced about the health aspect of peanut butter:
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-pean ... d-for-you/

I just buy them by the way.

[brimstoneSalad]

Do you guys eat a lot of fruit/nuts?

I don't. You can make a nut cheese, though, which is good. I do that sometimes. I only eat cheap fruits, and only on occasion. Except non-sweet fruits, like tomato.

What is your main source of calories?

Legumes (peas, lentils, lots of chickpeas, soy), followed by grains (oats are pretty much the king, I also love buckwheat), followed by fruits and vegetables. I get almost half of my calories from beans, I suspect. Most of the other half from grains much of the time. Mainly just get fiber and some vitamins from veggies- not significant calories.

Unrelated to costs, do you use omega 3 supplements or flax seeds? If the latter, how do you consume them?

I try to use canola oi. Flax goes bad too fast. Otherwise, I don't eat much oil, if I can't get canola.

I will use hemp seeds if I can find them hulled. Although the taste is a little earthy, they make a decent nut cheese.

Most days my diet is beans and grains (and spices, of course), with some veggies thrown in.

Water, peeled soy beans (7,9%), sugar, calcium citrate, stabilizer (pectin), acidity regulator (sodium citrate, citric acid), sea salt, antioxidants (tocopherol extracts, ascorbyl palmitate), vitamin (B12, D2), yogurt cultures / -ferments (S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus).

So, pectin it is.
Can you find pectin near you?

You can use a scoop of the old yogurt to start new yogurt. It will have a similar taste. The texture is the tricky part.

I'm already doing that. Would it make a difference to remove the hulls? Not sure if they have influence on the taste.

I don't know. I don't notice the beany taste anymore, so I don't know how to get rid of it. It might. Sounds like they do in that yogurt... but culturing things can also cover up taste like that, I think.

[brimstoneSalad]

If you need to be convinced about the health aspect of peanut butter:
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-pean ... d-for-you/

I just buy them by the way.

I think peanut butter got me through university.

The only thing I worry about is aflatoxins. Due to the way they grow, it's hard to avoid (as I understand).

[miniboes]

I am a big fan of peanut butter an tortillas, but there's a lot of oil in those two things. Are you concerned with that at all, or do you make them yourself?

There's nothing wrong with oil, it's mostly unsaturated fats in peanut butter. If you need to be convinced about the health aspect of peanut butter:
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-pean ... d-for-you/

I just buy them by the way.

Interesting. Every vegan health expert I know of (McDougall, Klapper, Barnard, Ecclestyn, etc.) are all against oil. Interesting to see peanut butter does not seem to be affected.

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/extra-v ... l-vs-nuts/

Here Greger also speaks out against oil, saying it's the same effect as fruit juice; in the process of turning olives into oil only a fraction of the nutrients is retained, thus you end up with relatively empty calories. I also recall him saying trans fats could be found in plant oils due to how they are made.

But I guess it isn't much of a problem with the taco, as I fill it up with so much vegetables it can't possibly be unhealthy. The peanut butter is apparently also safe. Guess I finally found my healthy bread spread; it was peanut butter all along. Thanks for the different perspective!

[Dino_ROAR]

Non animal fats and oils get a bad rap but our brain's are made up of at least 60% fat... I found with me I can eat as much fat as I'd like without gaining weight and I actually feel better when I eat healthy fats. With out significant fat proportions in my diet I will feel fatigue and cranky. Flaxseed milk does spoil but that is why you store it in a completely air tight container and drink it within 24 hours. Its a much easier process than making soy milk . The taste of raw live flaxseed milk is out of this world, you'll get chills from first the sip that's how powerful it is! Most milk is advertised as "a good source of protein" your homemade milk does not have to be your "good source of protein" it can be you're "good source for essential fatty acids " and 20 or so trace vitamins and minerals! Notice how they are called essential fatty acids?

[Volenta]

Forgot to answer the flax seeds question: (which it's pretty important actually)

Unrelated to costs, do you use omega 3 supplements or flax seeds? If the latter, how do you consume them?

I actually do try to eat 2 tablespoons of flax seeds every day. I used to put them in my morning smoothies, just grind them up in a good blender together with soy milk and then add your fruits to it. It's also possible to put it in your oatmeal (which I actually should do now...). If you do a lot of baking, you can use them with some water to replace an egg. You have to grind them up though, otherwise they are less digestible. You can then store the ground flax seeds in the refrigerator. I never had any trouble (yet) with them going rancid like brimstoneSalad seems to have.