Veganism is a lifestyle & philosophy that seeks to reduce harm to animals, as much as is possible and practicable. It also has the added benefit of indirectly reducing harm to humans and the planet. It’s a win-win-win. Join us on our journey to reduce the harm we cause to animals, as well as to ensure we leave our children a habitable planet.
Amelia and JP VLOG 166: Yúa Resto Bar is one of our favorite vegan restaurants in Cuenca Ecuador. The seating is mostly outside on a covered patio in a garden setting. They have delicious vegan almuerzos that change daily for $3.50. The restaurant is located on Timoleon Carrera y Juan Bautista Vasquez.
We were a week behind paying our Claro mobile phone bill so we went to the Claro store to pay it before lunch. The Claro store that we usually go to is located near Remigio Crespo Toral y Ricardo Muñoz Davila. That’s where we signed up for our plan and it’s also only a few blocks from Yúa.
Hopefully you enjoyed our video, and if you did, please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE it, and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. ¡Muchas Gracias y Hasta Luego!
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We recorded this video several weeks ago, but it kept getting pushed down the queue for other, more time relevant videos. We start out with a trip to the Santa Ines lab to get our Cuenca Ecuador Bloodwork done. I get my cholesterol checked regularly to make sure it’s under control.
Since we recorded it, the Nut Wars between Jeff Nelson at VegSource and Dr. Joel Fuhrman that inspired this video have simmered down, but that doesn’t make this issue less concerning for people like me (JP) with a strong family history of heart disease and a long-term battle with high cholesterol.
This video isn’t about the science or the confusion about cholesterol that has been systematically manufactured by the dairy, meat, egg, nut, cooking oil, avocado and other high-fat product industries. I’ll share the science below in case you’re wondering about it. Instead, our video is about MY frustration with the plant-based doctors for not coming to consensus on this very important topic.
Fuhrman, Greger and other doctors say nuts are the key to living longer. Ornish and Esselstyn say they contribute to heart disease and can shorten our lives. Both sides can’t be right and they owe it to those of us in the high-risk heart disease category to put their egos aside and agree on the best recommendation.
If you have total cholesterol under 150 without paying any attention to your saturated fat intake, good for you. Please think of me when you’re chowing down on nuts, avocados, chocolate and coconut oil.
When I was 34 years old, I got routine blood work done for keyman life insurance policy for my business. My business partner was 10 years older than me, but his premium was half the cost of mine. That prompted the question: why?
My total cholesterol was 270! If you want to know the truth about cholesterol, just look at the stance taken by life insurance companies. They’re in the business of assessing risk, and they know high cholesterol is a risk factor for sudden death. Some life insurance companies like Health IQ are now giving discounts to vegans due to our lower risk of death compared to non-vegans.
After getting this shocking news, I went to see my doctor to find out what could be done, and he recommended a Mediterranean-style diet with fish, lean mean, olive oil, fruits, veggies and no more than 2 eggs per week. NOW I know that diet is a recipe for heart disease, not a cure for it.
After a few months on this diet, regular exercise and 10 pounds of weight loss, my cholesterol barely moved so he put me on a statin and told me there was nothing else I could do.
That simply wasn’t true.
On the statin, the lowest my cholesterol got was 196. Eating a vegan whole-food plant-based diet without a statin, my total cholesterol has been as low as 188.
Our Whole-Food Plant-Based Diet
Before I share links to the science and my cholesterol numbers, I think it’s important to discuss our diet. For the past 3 years, we’ve been 100% vegan, consuming no cholesterol-laden animal products.
For the past 2 years, we’ve eaten a Whole-Food Plant-Based (WFPB) Diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes (beans) and a few seeds (chia and flax for Omega-3), but almost no nuts or oil.
Almost 9 months ago, after finding out my total cholesterol was still 225 (the exact average cholesterol level of heart disease victims), I cut out all oil, nuts, avocados and chocolate. We even ask our restaurants to cook without oil for us.
We tracked our diet on MyFitnessPal for a month after going truly low-fat, no-oil and I averaged 10% fat, 15% protein and 75% carbs. Amelia’s was a little higher in the fat category because of her chocolate addiction.
Even with this truly low-fat diet recommended by the experts on heart disease prevention and reversal, Dr. Esselstyn and Dr. Ornish, I still have high total cholesterol, high LDL cholesterol, low HDL (good) cholesterol and high triglycerides. That’s 4 for 4 in terms of heart disease risk.
And considering my family has a strong history of heart disease and stroke, I’d say it’s a safe bet that I have heart disease that just hasn’t manifested itself yet.
In the video, I mentioned Amla Powder as a treatment for high cholesterol. It’s dehydrated, powdered Indian gooseberry and has been shown to lower cholesterol in most people as effectively as statin drugs. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to work for me.
How Do We Know Cholesterol Causes Heart Disease?
Most people are very confused about cholesterol thanks to the efforts of high-fat food industries like meat, dairy, eggs, oil, nuts, avocados, etc. Some people are even adamant that cholesterol has nothing to do with heart disease. They think it has been unfairly maligned by the sugar industry, which is the real cause of heart disease.
While sugar products are no-doubt unhealthy, our heart disease epidemic is due almost entirely to foods that are high in cholesterol and/or saturated fat. The below video by Dr. Greger at NutritionFacts.org is a great review of the science showing how we know, without a doubt, that heart disease is caused by high blood serum cholesterol, especially high LDL cholesterol.
The dairy industry launched a full-scale assault on this science starting back in 2012 to manufacture doubt where none exists because their profits were tanking. They even had me believing their corporate junk science for a while, and some people very close to me still believe it, but it’s simply the best marketing money can buy. Don’t believe a word of it.
What Are the Optimal Cholesterol Levels?
Based on decades of legitimate, irrefutable science, the optimal cholesterol levels to avoid heart disease are total cholesterol below 150 and LDL (bad) cholesterol below 70. In populations around the world, with cholesterol levels below these numbers, heart disease is almost non-existent.
What Are MY Cholesterol Levels?
Here are the results from my last blood test.
Total Cholesterol: 195
In the medical profession, a total cholesterol below 200 is considered “normal.” But nearly 1/3 of all heart disease patients have a total cholesterol between 150 and 200, which means “normal” is actually abnormal. Ideally, my total cholesterol should be below 150.
LDL (Bad) Cholesterol: 109
In the medical profession, LDL cholesterol below 100 is considered normal. But the optimal level is below 70. Again, in populations around the world with LDL below 70, heart disease is unheard of.
HDL (Good) Cholesterol: 42
The medical profession likes to focus on the good HDL cholesterol. They say having an HDL above 40 is optimal, but in reality, HDL is almost meaningless. That’s because if your total and LDL cholesterol are low enough, in the optimal range, HDL doesn’t matter. This measure is unimportant in terms of heart disease risk.
Triglycerides: 219
The optimal range for triglycerides is below 100, but the medical profession says anyone with triglycerides above 150 is at elevated risk of heart disease. My blood test from 9 months ago when my total cholesterol was 225 (before we went truly low-fat) showed triglycerides of 296, so that has improved, but it’s still not good enough.
Based on these test results, which are actually quite a bit better than past tests, I’m at high risk for heart disease. Considering my long-term battle with high cholesterol and a strong family history of heart disease, I think it’s a safe bet I have undiagnosed heart disease.
UPDATE: What Does Dr. Esselstyn Say About My Numbers
After posting this video, one of our subscribers shared this video from Dr. Esselstyn talking about people just like me who eat a clean, WFPB diet but still have cholesterol in the 200 range instead of below 150.
Nut Wars 2019 Between Jeff Nelson and Dr. Joel Fuhrman
The motivation for this video came from what I call the Nut Wars 2019 between Jeff Nelson at VegSource and Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Here are the videos I’m referring to.
You may notice that Dr. Fuhrman isn’t featured in any of these videos, yet he suggested in his interview with Plant Based News that Nelson’s criticisms were directed squarely at him. A case of guilty conscious or maybe extreme narcissism? ?
Nuts Won’t Save Your Life (Part 1 of Nuts)
Nuts Studies Are a Hoax (Part 2 of Nuts)
You Don’t Need Added FAT to Absorb Nutrients (Part 3 of Nuts)
Nuts and Heart Disease – Dr. Esselstyn (Part 4 of Nuts)
More Nut Industry Lies Exposed (Part 5 of Nuts)
Dr. Joel Fuhrman Loses His Mind in Plant Based News Interview
Dr. Fuhrman accuses people like Esselstyn, Ornish and Jeff Nelson of trying to protect their legacy despite contradictory science. However, this appears to be a severe case of projection.
He has a long legacy of recommending nuts, even to heart disease patients. He also sells nuts and nut butters on his website. If anyone is attempting to protect a legacy, I think it’s Fuhrman. Jeff Nelson has no legacy to protect. He’s simply trying to determine what the truth is.
You can also read Dr. Fuhrman’s rebuttal on his website: The Attack Against Nuts and Seeds—Getting Nuttier All The Time. Rather than refute Nelson’s review of the science, Fuhrman resorts to name calling and ad hominem attacks while insisting that studies funded by the industries that benefit from positive results have no impact on the findings.
If you think industry funding doesn’t affect the outcome of studies like Dr. Fuhrman suggests, you should consider reading Unsavory Truth by Dr. Marion Nestle.
She has devoted her entire professional career as a scientist to studying corruption in the food industry and she has proven without doubt that the funding source affects the study methodology, the outcomes and the conclusions. In fact, she calls industry funded studies “marketing studies” because their sole purpose is to sell more products, not discover scientific truth.
Dr. Fuhrman needs to read Nestle’s book before suggesting that funding source doesn’t matter.
Heart Disease Experts Dr. Esselstyn and Dr. Ornish
For the time being, I’m going to continue to trust the advice of Dr. Esselstyn and Dr. Ornish when it comes to heart disease prevention and reversal. If you have heart disease or a history of high cholesterol, I suggest reading both of their books:
To reiterate, I don’t care WHO is right! I only care WHAT is right! This is a serious issue for people like me with genetically high cholesterol and a strong family history of heart disease. The experts in the plant-based community need to put their egos aside, stop protecting their legacies, and come to consensus on this issue to prevent more unnecessary premature deaths.
Hopefully you enjoyed our video, and if you did, please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE it, and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. ¡Muchas Gracias y Hasta Luego!
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If you’re confused about vegan vs. plant-based, you’re not alone. When we first went vegan in 2016, we didn’t know there was a difference either. We thought being vegan meant eating a vegan diet, but that’s not entirely accurate as we later learned. Some people who claim to be vegan experts, are still confused about the fundamental differences between being vegan and eating a plant-based diet.
This video is a response, of sorts, to the rash of “ex-vegan” YouTube “celebrities.” Several, including Rawvana and Raw Alignment, have said they’re eating animal products due to health issues caused by their previous “vegan” diets.
These people were never actually vegan, though. They ate extreme fad diets that were plant-based, but they lacked the vegan ideology and mainly focused on the diet/vanity aspects related to being thin. Additionally, many of them were using veganism to hide an eating disorder for which they need to seek professional help.
Welcome to our blog!
Before we dive in to vegan vs. plant-based, welcome to our blog! We haven’t thought to promote it before, assuming people would dig deeper and find it, but several people pointed out they didn’t know about it so we thought we’d tell you.
All of our videos have an associated blog post with more pictures, context, details and links to relevant information and businesses. If you ever have a question that we didn’t cover in the video, check the blog post linked in the YouTube description. It might be there.
Veganism Defined
Many people try to redefine veganism to paint vegans as hypocrites. However, there is a clear definition of the vegan ideology that was written more than 40 years ago. It states:
Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.
The key phrase in this definition is “as far as is possible and practicable.” It’s impossible to be a perfect vegan in a world built on top of animal exploitation. All we can do is try our best to avoid most animal products “as far as is possible and practicable.”
Just because we have to get a vaccine that’s made using eggs doesn’t make us hypocrites. Unfortunately, the companies who make vaccines are resistant to adopt vegan methodologies because it costs money to switch their production systems over, so we’re stuck with what they offer.
The same goes for bugs and small animals killed during the harvesting of our crops. There are ways to reduce the impact of our farming methodologies on insects and animals, but they’re more expensive so most companies haven’t adopted them.
When you think about vegan vs. plant-based, remember that veganism is NOT a diet. However, it does have a major dietary component because we eat several times per day. Just like with the omnivore diet, there are several different types of plant-based diets:
Fruitarian Diet – only eats fruit.
Raw Vegan Diet – only eats uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains.
Vegan Junk Food Diet – doesn’t care about health; eats anything as long as it doesn’t come from an animal.
Whole-Food Plant-Based (WFPB) Diet – the Mediterranean Diet without animal products; lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds and mushrooms.
WFPB No-Oil – WFPB without any oil (olive oil, coconut oil, canola oil, etc.).
WFPB No SOS – WFPB without any added sugar, oil or salt.
Starch-Based Diet – Dr. McDougall’s version of a WFPB No SOS diet that focuses on complex carbs like potatoes and whole grains.
There are others, plus some people also opt for water fasts, juice fasts and intermittent fasting.
However, NONE of this has anything to do with veganism. They’re diets that happen to be vegan or mostly vegan, and just like all the omnivore diets (Mediterranean, Atkins, Keto, Paleo, Weight Watchers, Zone, South Beach, DASH, etc.), some have been scientifically proven to be healthier than others.
Whole-Food Plant-Based (WFPB) No-Oil Diet
After extensive research and reading, we opted for the WFPB No-Oil Diet promoted by many doctors and scientists, such as Dr. Greger, Dr. Esselstyn, Dr. Campbell, Dr. Popper, Dr. Garth Davis, Dr. Neal Barnard and many others. It’s essentially the Mediterranean Diet without animal products.
We have a LONG blog post on our sister website, LottaVeg.com, that lists our Credible Nutrition Sources and we also share our criteria for selecting them. We encourage you to read through that blog post and develop your own criteria for choosing who to trust because not every “expert” is trustworthy.
Please keep in mind that just because someone publishes a book doesn’t mean it’s true or scientifically valid; it only means the publisher thought the book would sell. Unfortunately, a lot of so-called “experts” misrepresent the science to sell books, supplements and diet programs that don’t actually work. Trust no one.
That’s the difference between our diet and most other diets: there are dozens, probably hundreds of doctors and scientists who study it and use it to treat their patients. It’s not one guy who published a book or YouTube channel that misrepresents the science in order to profit from your confusion.
They may not agree on all the fine details, but they all agree on the main premise: eat plants, not animals. We evolved from primates who eat plant-based diets. We didn’t evolve from lions and tigers and bears.
If you want to know why we don’t trust science paid for and/or conducted by corporations or industry associations, please read Unsavory Truth by Dr. Marion Nestle (no relation to the food company). She has made it her life’s work to uncover corruption in the food industry, and it’s far more insidious than we ever thought.
Studies funded by any industry, including beef, diary, egg, nut, avocado, olive oil, pomegranate, cereal, blueberry, etc. cannot be trusted. Whether plant or animal, food studies funded by industry are setup to sell more products, not discover scientific truth.
Other Useful “Ex-Vegan” Response Videos
Don’t take our word for it, thought. A lot of people have shared their thoughts on the confusion about vegan vs. plant-based. Here are just a few:
GojiMan on Vegan vs. Plant-Based
Mic the Vegan on Vegan vs. Plant-Based
Plant Based News on Vegan vs. Plant-Based
Hopefully you enjoyed our video, and if you did, please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE it, and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. ¡Muchas Gracias y Hasta Luego!
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This newsletter covers things we don’t share ANYWHERE ELSE! You’ll get all sorts of timely information about Ecuador and global expat news that might affect your travel or move decisions.
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Before we share our Cuenca Ecuador Yoga In The Park experience, we just passed 500 subscribers on our Amelia And JP YouTube Channel! Thank you all for subscribing and continuing to watch our videos! They’re quite the labor of love so knowing so many people enjoy them makes it all worthwhile!
We also celebrated our 3-Year Veganversary over the weekend! We went vegan on March 8th, 2016 and haven’t looked back! We did several fun things to celebrate our compassionate, environmentally friendly and healthy lifestyle, and we share a couple of them with you in this video.
Cuenca Ecuador Yoga in the Park with Olesya
You may recognize Olesya from this Food With Friends video or the 2nd Food With Friends video, but she’s also an amazing yoga instructor. In fact, Amelia says she’s the best she’s ever had!
The yoga style in this video was relaxing and restorative, but she also teaches much more difficult Cuenca Ecuador Yoga In The Park class that gets the heart pumping and the sweat rolling. It all depends on which class you attend.
You can visit her facebook page at Yoga con Olesya en Cuenca for her schedule or to contact her about her upcoming classes or private training.
After Amelia’s Cuenca Ecuador Yoga In The Park with Olesya, we thought celebrating our 3-Year Veganversary at Fratello with our good vegan friend, Rosy, was apropos.
Rosy was our very first vegan friend in Ecuador, and our VERY FIRST subscriber on our Amelia And JP YouTube Channel! She subscribed before we even launched our channel and now we just passed 500 subscribers! It’s really hard to believe!
Our dinner at Fratello Vegan was delicious as usual. We hung out with Rosy and ate her brother’s amazing vegan food for almost 3 hours! I messaged Rene on Facebook the day before to order a small vegan chocolate cake for our Veganversary.
Fratello normally has a cake on-hand, but Amelia really wanted our own oil-free chocolate cake. If you want something special, it’s best to message Rene a day in advance. This cake was moist, decacadent and utterly delicious!
The Impact of Veganism on Our Lives
We didn’t go vegan on a whim. We spent several months researching the diet aspects because we were raised to believe humans would die without eating meat, dairy and eggs. It took a lot of documentaries and reading to reverse a lifetime of beliefs that were based almost entirely on marketing messages. Sometimes, I’m still shocked that we haven’t died of some nutrient deficiency yet!
While veganism isn’t a diet, food is a really big part of being vegan. We don’t buy shoes or coats or cosmetics every day, but we do eat food every day so it’s always on the top of our mind.
We choose to eat a vegan Whole-Foods Plant-Based (WFPB) Diet, a term coined by Dr. T. Colin Campbell back in the early 1980’s. We eat NO animal products of any kind, and we avoid all processed foods, including oil, which is a processed, refined fat just like sugar is a processed refined carb. This way of eating has dramatically improved our health while leading to significant weight loss.
JP’s Weight Loss as a Vegan & WFPB
Before we went vegan, I weighed in at 197 pounds! At 5’10”, that’s borderline obese.
After 3 years of being vegan, I’m down to 164 pounds and a size 30 jeans! I haven’t been this thin since before I graduated college in my early 20’s! Taking all that weight off my spine has also enabled me to be more mobile while reducing the level of pain I feel on a daily basis.
Amelia’s Weight Loss as a Vegan & WFPB
Amelia has seen a similar transformation. She weighed 130 pounds before we went vegan and WFPB. At 5 feet tall, that’s considered overweight.
After 3 years of being vegan, Amelia has lost 25 pounds and now weighs only 105 pounds! She hasn’t been this thin since her early twenties, as well!
We’ve lost the weight slowly over the last 3 years, and we’ve kept it off because our diet is ideal for both losing weight and keeping it off. Combined with our “big why” to reduce animal suffering and protect our planet from environmental destruction, it has been very easy to stick with this way of eating (WOE).
Like I said before, veganism isn’t a diet (even though food is a big part of it). Rather, veganism is an ethical stance to cause the least amount of harm, as is practicable and possible, to innocent animals and our environment. Therefore, we don’t have “cheat days” because that would mean we would be violating our own ethical and moral standards.
By not having cheat days on our ethics, we also don’t have cheat days on our diet. The worst things we consume are oil (sometimes when we eat out) and beer/wine. Those are the only two things we consume that are unhealthy, and we try to avoid them as much as possible.
Improved Cholesterol Numbers
It’s not just about the weight loss, though. Our total cholesterol levels are under 200 without a statin. I have a genetic predisposition for high cholesterol and have been battling it most of my adult life. The only time it went below 200 before going vegan was thanks to a high dose of Simvastatin, a drug that I NEVER want to take again! The side effects were horrible!
Despite what the dairy, beef and egg industries would have you believe, we’ve known for 80 years that high blood serum cholesterol leads to cardiovascular disease. And since the 1960’s, we’ve known that dietary cholesterol, and especially saturated fat, increases blood serum cholesterol.
The blockages present in the vast majority of Americans is literally made of oxidized cholesterol, which can be cleaned out by eating a WFPB diet that’s free of cholesterol laden animal foods and low in saturated fat.
Heart disease kills over 600,000 Americans each year, but you don’t have to be one of them. We recommend reading Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn’s book, Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease for details about how to prevent, arrest and reverse the number one killer of people eating the Standard American Diet.
The Impact of Our Veganism on Our Planet
During our 3 years of being vegan, we have dramatically reduced our environmental footprint on this tiny blue and green planet. In 3 years, Amelia and I have saved:
These numbers come from The Vegan Calculator, which is based on stats from the documentary, Cowspiracy. If you’re skeptical about these numbers, great! We encourage you to do some independent, unbiased research. These numbers are corroborated by countless scientists and international organizations much to the chagrin of animal ag, which has paid for their own biased research.
When doing your research, please consider the source. Industry funded research is seldom reliable, whether it relates to plants or animals. We recommend reading Unsavory Truth by Marion Nestle to better understand how insidious corporate junk science has become. You simply can’t trust anything until you understand the study methodology and conclusions.
Vegans for Life
After 3 years of being vegan, our only regret is that we didn’t do it sooner. Both Amelia and I considered going vegan many years ago, but never pulled the trigger. We were too afraid of the unknown.
But once we realized how horribly the animals suffer, how destructive animal ag is to our environment, and how unhealthy animal products are for human health, adopting a vegan lifestyle became unavoidable. We just couldn’t continue living as hypocrites once we knew better.
This brings us to a quote by Maya Angelou that I mentioned at the end of the video, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” We try to live our lives by this guiding principal. We’re far from perfect, but we’re doing the best we can. And each day, we try to do a little better. That’s all any of us can do.
Hopefully you enjoyed our video, and if you did, please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE it, and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. ¡Muchas Gracias y Hasta Luego!
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A few of our viewers have asked us what it’s like being vegan in Cuenca Ecuador, so we thought we’d record a video discussing the topic. We think it’s VERY easy to be vegan in Cuenca, and here are our top 7 reasons why.
#1 Colorful Mercados
The mercados in Cuenca and throughout Ecuador are like vegan candy stores. They’re loaded with all the colorful fruits and veggies that we love to eat, and they’re extremely affordable. We spend about $20/week on produce at the mercados, which used to cost us around $100/week back in the states for lower quality, less flavorful fruits and veggies.
#2 Vegan & Vegan-friendly Restaurants
When we first arrived in Cuenca, Fratello Vegan was the only fully vegan restaurant. Now we also have Café Libre and Zatua Miski, and several vegetarian restaurants. Plus, nearly every non-vegan restaurant has a vegan and/or vegetarian section on the menu. It’s SUPER easy to eat out as vegans in Cuenca.
Here’s our list of the best vegan/vegetarian restaurants in Cuenca Ecuador:
Unlike in the states, people here haven’t been bombarded with marketing messages for the past 100 years so they don’t put animal-based foods on a pedestal. No Ecuadorian has asked us where we get our protein or if we get enough to eat. The attitude here is that a vegan diet is healthy. A common response we hear when we say we’re vegan is, “That’s great. I need to eat healthier, too.”
All of our doctors (GP, neurosurgeon, physical therapist, OBGYN) know that a plant-based diet is healthy. My GP asked if I’m taking B12, which should be recommended for everyone, not just vegans. And he tested my calcium levels, which are in the normal range. Our doctors didn’t say anything negative or derogatory about the vegan plant-based diet and they weren’t at all concerned about our health from eating it.
The traditional Ecuadorian diet is a starch-based diet. They eat lots of fruits, veggies, legumes, whole grains, rice, yucca and potatoes, while meat, dairy and eggs are used as a garnish. Animal products have not traditionally been the central component of meals, although that has been changing over the past 10 years as the country becomes wealthier.
And guess what… Along with the increase in consumption of animal products and processed foods, we’re also seeing an increase in obesity, diabetes, heart disease and all the other preventable western diseases of affluence. It’s a very sad development here.
#4 Vegan Skin Care in Cuenca Ecuador
You may have seen our earlier video on Vegan Skin Care here in Cuenca, featuring our fellow vegan friend, Dr. Rosy. In addition to Rosy’s skin care treatments, there are also several stores that sell vegan and cruelty free beauty products. One that’s very close to our house is called Annoa. The husband designs and makes the products, and his wife runs the store.
#5 Volunteer at Dog Rescues
We featured Los Amigos de Manolo in another video, but there are at least two other dog rescues in Cuenca Ecuador and they all welcome volunteers and donations. If you’re really ambitious, we could use a farm animal rescue here!
#6 Growing Vegan Community
When we first moved here, Rosy was the only vegan we knew. Since then, we’ve met more long-term Ecuadorian vegans, as well as vegans from other parts of the world, plus a few new vegans. We’re excited to see the vegan community growing here, and we’re hoping to grow it even more.
#7 Vegan Activism
We conduct Anonymous for the Voiceless Cube of Truth peaceful street activism events on a semi-regular basis so if you’re interested in activism, Cuenca has those opportunities for you, as well. There are also slaughterhouse vigils and movie showings. Rosy showed Okja at Fratello and she’s planning a showing of Dominion en La Universidad de Cuenca.
If you have any questions about vegan products or services here in Cuenca, or anything relating to being vegan in Cuenca, please let us know in the comments and we’ll do our best to answer them.
Hopefully you enjoyed our video, and if you did, please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE it, and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. ¡Muchas Gracias y Hasta Luego!
FREE Weekly Expat Newsletter
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This newsletter covers things we don’t share ANYWHERE ELSE! You’ll get all sorts of timely information about Ecuador and global expat news that might affect your travel or move decisions.
https://ameliaandjp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ep-76-Being-Vegan-in-Cuenca.jpg7201280JPhttps://ameliaandjp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Amelia-JP-Unconventional-Logo.jpgJP2019-03-07 13:59:172019-06-09 13:41:10Being Vegan In Cuenca Ecuador – Is Cuenca the Best Vegan City? (Episode 76)
This is the story of how we discovered Gentle Minimalism, why we sold all our stuff, downsized into a tiny apartment, and moved to Ecuador with four suitcases. Going gentle minimalist has liberated us from the weight of our possessions while drastically reducing our footprint on this tiny blue planet.
Our Discovery of Gentle Minimalism
After two surgeries to fix my spine, we had a tough decision to make. We either had to refinance our house to get a smaller payment we could afford, or we needed to sell it and do something completely different. After several months of discussion, analysis and convincing (I had to convince Amelia it was the right thing to do), we decided to sell the house and everything in it.
Shattered Disc & Replacement
5-Level Lumbar Fusion
Our initial plan was to move to Mexico after selling the house, but my back was still in bad shape and we were afraid to venture too far from my neurosurgeon. So we opted to delay our expat adventure for a year to give my spine more time to recover. That’s when we rented a tiny one bedroom, one bathroom apartment in Uptown Denver.
View from Our Uptown Denver Apartment
We stayed there for a year and found out that we loved living in the city and didn’t mind the small quarters. We were able to walk everywhere and we didn’t use our cars nearly as much, so we sold my Audi. I bought this car following the sale of my business, so it had a lot of sentimental value. However, even though it was paid in full, the taxes, insurance and parking still cost us several hundred dollars per month that we could no longer afford.
JP’s Audi
Amelia’s Audi
When our lease was up after a year in our postage stamp apartment, we sold our last remaining possessions (except for our clothes and laptops) and drove Amelia’s car across the country to Kansas City to spend a couple weeks with my family before heading to Atlanta to make our final preparations for our move to Ecuador. That included selling Amelia’s car to the Audi dealership and getting all the paperwork in order to take our dogs with us.
Moving to Ecuador
While we were living in the apartment in Denver, Trump got elected, which caused a serious decline in the Mexico/US relations. Plus, the drug wars in Mexico were heating up and several Americans had been kidnapped and held for ransom near the areas where we were thinking about moving.
This turn of events made us reevaluate our final destination. I had already looked at Ecuador before we sold our house because they’re on the dollar, which was very appealing to us. However, we initially thought it was too far from the US. But after visiting on our exploratory trip in March of 2017, we decided it wasn’t that far after all.
After we sold Amelia’s car, we packed everything we could fit into four suitcases and boarded a plane to Ecuador with Alicia in a small pet carrier. Daisy had to stay at grandma’s house until the weather cooled down. It was too hot to fly her so we came back for her 3 months later when it was cooler.
We had intended to rent a small apartment, but after looking at lots of them, we couldn’t find one that we liked AND that would allow Daisy. In Ecuador, a 30 pound dog like Daisy is considered a big dog, which limits the rental options. You can learn more about that in our Cost of Living in Cuenca Ecuador + Rental House Tour video.
While the house is much larger than we need or wanted, we love the location and it has really nice furniture, which wasn’t common in all the places we saw. We also really liked the landlord, which is very important here.
Our Rental House in Cuenca Ecuador
Some minimalists can fit everything they own in a backpack, but that’s a little too extreme for us. We don’t want to drive ourselves insane trying to be perfect, but we also don’t buy anything we don’t need and we’re very happy living that way. If we had to leave in a hurry, everything that matters to us can fit in two suitcases and two backpacks. If things got really bad, we would be fine with just the two backpacks. That’s one of the major benefits of gentle minimalism.
Going Vegan
Veganism is also a form of gentle minimalism. The most environmentally destructive thing on this planet is the animal ag industry. It is the leading cause of deforestation, species extinction, ocean dead zones, pollution of the air, land and water, and human generated greenhouse gases.
Even if you continue being a consumer of “stuff” like society expects of you, going vegan would still drastically reduce your environmental footprint. It’s the absolute bare minimum to be able to call yourself an environmentalist with a clear conscious. Plus, it’s a far more compassionate way to live your life with numerous health benefits.
Here are links to the documentaries I watched and the books I’ve read that led to our decision to go gentle minimalist and vegan:
Hopefully you enjoyed our video, and if you did, please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE it, and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. ¡Muchas Gracias y Hasta Luego!
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This newsletter covers things we don’t share ANYWHERE ELSE! You’ll get all sorts of timely information about Ecuador and global expat news that might affect your travel or move decisions.
https://ameliaandjp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ep-74-Gentle-Minimalism.jpg7201280JPhttps://ameliaandjp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Amelia-JP-Unconventional-Logo.jpgJP2019-03-02 13:59:472019-05-30 17:13:52Gentle Minimalism: Why We Sold ALL Our Stuff (Episode 74)
Our good friend and vegan doctor, Rosy, gave us both facials as part of our routine skin care in Cuenca Ecuador. The treatments that Rosy gives Amelia have removed lots of skin damage. Amelia may not look it, but she’s 50 years old! Our whole-food plant-based diet combined with Rosy’s vegan chemical peels have literally taken years off of Amelia’s appearance.
With my fair skin, I’ve had a lifelong battle with the sun. Several years ago, I did a multi-week chemical peel prescribed by a dermatologist back in the States to remove the pre-cancer cells covering my entire face. It was a long and very painful process. It left my face a bright shade of red for months. It did work, though. All those pesky pre-cancer cells were destroyed.
However, I prefer Rosy’s approach to skin care in Cuenca Ecuador. It’s much less painful and didn’t leave my skin discolored. Hopefully I can avoid the need for the harsher treatments in the future by staying on top of my skin damage now.
Coconut oil only blocks about 20% of UV rays making it about an SPF 5 so it’s not the most effective option for blocking the harmful effects of the sun. However, if you dislike using chemical sunscreens that have been tested on animals, it’s better than nothing, especially combined with a physical screen such as a hat and umbrella.
Hopefully you enjoyed our video, and if you did, please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE it, and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. ¡Muchas Gracias y Hasta Luego!
FREE Weekly Expat Newsletter
Sign-up for our FREE weekly newsletter and get immediate access to:
This newsletter covers things we don’t share ANYWHERE ELSE! You’ll get all sorts of timely information about Ecuador and global expat news that might affect your travel or move decisions.
https://ameliaandjp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ep-67-Cuenca-Ecuador-Skin-Care.jpg7201280JPhttps://ameliaandjp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Amelia-JP-Unconventional-Logo.jpgJP2019-02-14 13:59:122019-06-10 20:18:48Cruelty-Free Skin Care in Cuenca Ecuador with Dr. Rosy (Episode 67)
In response to a handful of YouTubers who have said they’re no longer vegan, we felt it was necessary to post a video saying why we’re still vegan and always will be.
We don’t talk about veganism a lot on our YouTube channel because we prefer to live by example rather than potentially alienate pre-vegans with information they aren’t open to hearing. We avoided veganism for many years due to the negative stigma created by well-meaning people who think the best way to wake people up is by force. That didn’t work for us so we’re taking a more positive, inspirational and educational approach…
We have Netflix to thank for our awakening. We watched more than a dozen food, environment and vegan related documentaries in early 2016. They made us aware of the atrocities being hidden from us so we continue to buy profitable but deadly products. Education and awareness is what convinced us to go vegan; not angry vegans yelling at us.
So if you’re like us and prefer to change your opinions and beliefs based on verifiable information and rational thought, here are some resources we recommend:
We also referenced That Vegan Couple in our video. You can find their YouTube Channel here…
Hopefully you enjoyed our video, and if you did, please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE it, and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. ¡Muchas Gracias y Hasta Luego!
FREE Weekly Expat Newsletter
Sign-up for our FREE weekly newsletter and get immediate access to:
This newsletter covers things we don’t share ANYWHERE ELSE! You’ll get all sorts of timely information about Ecuador and global expat news that might affect your travel or move decisions.
While Amelia is back in the States, I thought I’d share a Single Vegan What I Eat In A Day video. These are some of my favorite, super simple recipes that make enough leftovers for lunch the following day. Here are the recipes:
Pasta w/ Marinara & Veggies – your favorite whole grain pasta, one jar of your favorite fat-free marinara sauce, one small chopped onion, one tablespoon minced garlic, one cup each chopped broccoli and cauliflower. Plus, oregano, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste. Sauté the veggies first, then add all the other ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes.
Back by popular demand, I added a little Daisy Cam footage. I adopted Daisy almost 8 years ago from a shelter in Denver, CO. She’s a super sweet girl, unless you’re an invader in her territory.
Amelia also shared her delicious dinner at Watercourse Foods in Denver, CO. We used to live just a few blocks from Watercourse when we lived in Uptown before we moved to Ecuador. It’s one of the few 100% vegan restaurants in Denver and it’s freaking amazing! They have lots of vegan comfort food. It was our Denver version of Fratello.
Hopefully you enjoyed our video, and if you did, please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE it, and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. ¡Muchas Gracias y Hasta Luego!
FREE Weekly Expat Newsletter
Sign-up for our FREE weekly newsletter and get immediate access to:
This newsletter covers things we don’t share ANYWHERE ELSE! You’ll get all sorts of timely information about Ecuador and global expat news that might affect your travel or move decisions.
LEARN ABOUT VEGANISM and the WHOLE FOOD PLANT BASED DIET (WFPB)
★ Cowspiracy ➞ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV04zyfLyN4
★ NutritionFacts.Org ➞ https://www.youtube.com/user/NutritionFactsOrg
★ Plant Based News ➞ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJRjK20fHylJyf-HiBtqI2w
★ What The Health ➞ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf44vLndiRM
Video Transcript
Hola veggie lovers.
I’m JP with Amelia And JP.
Amelia is currently still back
in the States in Denver for her job.
If you’re new to our channel,
we post videos every Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday at 2PM Eastern Time
and we hang out
for about an hour afterward
to respond to your comments and
answer any questions you might have
so come join us during that time.
If you’re NOT new to our channel, we
really appreciate that you are
watching our videos and providing such
insightful comments.
We really appreciate that.
While Amelia was gone
I decided to record a
Single Vegan What I Eat In A Day video
to show you all what
a single vegan can eat.
So let’s go ahead and get started.
[Upbeat Music]
For breakfast almost everyday we eat
Raw Rolled Oats.
We put some ground flax that we grind up,
usually chia, too, but
we were out of chia,
with some oats and then we add in some
nutmeg, cinnamon,
amla powder, it’s supposed to help with my
cholesterol, and a little maca powder.
And we use almond milk here that’s
fortified with calcium and Vitamin D
because with my back I want to make sure
that I keep a good calcium level.
And then we top it all with fruit.
You can use whatever fruit you like.
Frozen fruit is just fine, too.
I put bananas and papaya on this
with some walnuts.
I just love that for breakfast.
Let’s take a little break for a Daisy Cam.
We get a lot of requests from people
to see more of Miss Daisy.
And she is adorable, isn’t she? Oh my
God she’s a sweetheart.
For lunch almost everyday, I eat a salad,
a big salad.
I normally top it with
all kinds of veggies,
but I didn’t have any prepared so I just
put some sliced onion, tomato and
sunflower seeds, oregano,
some balsamic vinegar on it.
I had made some pasta with a pasta sauce
the night before.
I decided to eat that,
which is really simple.
It’s just tomato sauce and some
chopped up veggies:
broccoli and cauliflower
and onion and garlic.
I just opened up a jar of tomato sauce
and poured it in.
Amelia wanted to share her dinner with us
that she had at Watercourse
so let’s jump over to Denver and see
what Amelia is up to.
>> Amelia: Hi veggie lovers!
I’m Amelia with Amelia And JP.
I’m still here in Denver, CO and I thought
I would share
my meal with you guys last night.
I decided to go to Watercourse Foods,
which is a 100% vegan restaurant
in Denver.
It’s in what I consider downtown Denver,
but the neighborhood
is actually called Uptown.
Anyway, I highly recommend
you all check it out
if you’re ever here in Denver because
it is the first 100% vegan restaurant
and it definitely delivers. They have
a great selection of
comfort food and definitely more
on the gourmet side I’d say.
I decided to start my meal with the
Baked Brie appetizer
and it was AMAZING!
It was super light and decadent.
The brie filling itself is made with tofu,
cashew and a little nutritional yeast
that they use as a binder.
At least that’s what the server said.
It is wrapped in a very light and flaky
pastry puff. Quite tasty.
For my main course, I decided to have the
Sage Sweet Potato Gnocchi.
And wow! It was so incredibly flavorful.
The gnocchi dish comes with a
sweet potato puree,
roasted butternut squash and mushrooms,
a sage oil, fried sage leaves, and
it is topped with a walnut parmesan.
Yes please! If you get that, you will
not be disappointed.
It is pretty filling. I had
a little bit leftover
so I had that as a snack today.
Lucky me!
That’s all I have from Denver right now.
I will see you all soon, but I am going to
go ahead and pass it back to JP.
Bye veggie lovers!
>> JP: For dinner, I made a
Mexican Stir Fry
with onion, garlic, some red
and green peppers, a jalapeño.
And then I just sauteed all that,
or steam fried it,
in veggie broth on the stove until
it was nice and tender
all the veggies were nice and tender.
Then I added in some black beans,
some black pepper, some salt, cumin.
Love cumin! It’s one of
my favorite spices.
And then some chili powder.
And then just stirred all that up and let
it heat through.
[…]
Wow that looks amazing!
So delicious. And very simple too.
You can buy your veggies already
pre-chopped to save time, as well.
And I just threw some cilantro in
at the end there.
[…]
I had already made some brown rice,
fresh out of our pressure cooker.
Put the Mexican Stir Fry over the
brown rice
and then I topped it with some salsa.
Ah. Delicious.
As you can see, it is pretty simple
to eat as a single vegan.
All of those made leftovers so I had
leftovers for lunch
and then that Mexican Stir Fry made enough
that I had leftovers for lunch the next day.
So it’s a really good use of time.
I know some people don’t like leftovers.
Those people would be crazy.
Because we eat leftovers all the time.
Well I hope you enjoyed our Single Vegan
What We Eat In A Day video.
If you haven’t yet, please subscribe
to our channel.
We really appreciate that.
We have lots of really cool and
interesting things coming up
and you want to make sure and
get notified when we post those videos.
That’s it for today from JP
home alone in Ecuador.
We’ll see you next time.
https://ameliaandjp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ep-61-Single-Vegan-What-I-Eat-In-A-Day.jpg7201280JPhttps://ameliaandjp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Amelia-JP-Unconventional-Logo.jpgJP2019-01-31 13:33:482019-06-01 19:03:58Single Vegan What I Eat In A Day (Episode 61)
Our good friend and Amelia’s FAVORITE yoga instructor came over for another Food With Friends to make some delicious Vegan Mexican Lasagna. Olesya is from Russia and speaks several languages, so you get to hear some cool pronunciations.
Vegan Mexican Lasagna Recipe
Olesya had never tried tofu, so we invited her over in our first Food With Friends video back in Episode 35 to cook Tofu Scramble. And in this video, she learned how to make our easy and satisfying Vegan Mexican Lasagna Recipe. YUMMM!!! Amelia also walked her through our Vegan Refried Beans recipe, but you can use store-bought to save time (just make sure they’re oil and lard free).
And since Olesya never arrives empty handed, you’ll also learn how to make rich and delicious Plátanos con Pasta de Maní (You can find the recipe here: Ecuadorian Peanut Butter Plantain Recipe). It was the perfect dessert to follow our Vegan Mexican Lasagna.
We always have SOOO much fun when our friends come over to cook with us!
Hopefully you enjoyed our video, and if you did, please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE it, and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. ¡Muchas Gracias!
FREE Weekly Expat Newsletter
Sign-up for our FREE weekly newsletter and get immediate access to:
This newsletter covers things we don’t share ANYWHERE ELSE! You’ll get all sorts of timely information about Ecuador and global expat news that might affect your travel or move decisions.
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