Vegan in the Czech Republic! How to Eat Animal Free Food While Traveling

As many of you know, my husband and I recently took a week long trip to Prague, Czech Republic.  Before I go on any international trip I always do these things:

1. Call the airline in advance to arrange a Vegan meal on the plane.
2. Pack my own healthy vegan snacks for the plane in case the food is not good!  Sometimes it is really bland.
3. Check Happy Cow for vegan and vegan friendly restaurants in my destination city.
4. Locate the farmer's market and grocery stores upon arrival.

Now, I do want to warn that Happy Cow is not always up to date!  One example is when we were in Brno (Southeast of Prague) I found what looked like a Raw Vegan restaurant on the website.  Well when we went to find it they had changed the restaurant name and menu.  It was not so raw or vegan!  I was able to eat a nice big salad but had to settle for boiled potatoes because there wasn't anything else I could eat that wasn't fried!

Here's the salad and a small glimpse of the potatoes in the left corner from Aura Restaurant on Stefanikova, 35 in Brno, Czech Republic. The salad came without dressing, but it was really juicy with the bell pepper and tomatoes.

Here is a photo of what I ate at a non vegetarian friendly restaurant in Brno.  I basically ordered two side dishes.  A side salad called "Salaty Citron" (salad with pickled lemons) and Garlic Rosemary Potatoes.

Here is a photo of Tabouli from our absolute favorite veg friendly restaurant in Prague, Kardamon Klub. Notice it had tons of parsley!  Parsely is a super nutrient dense green.  I just love it! 

Here is Kardamon Klub's Vegetable Cous Cous. 

Kardamon Klub Restaurant offers an interesting menu from the Middle East and India with lots of vegan friendly choices.  You get a different menu each time from one of four countries: Persia, Lebanon, Yemen, Turkey, and India.

Our 2nd favorite restaurant is Mayur Indicky Restaurant.  We LOVED the Indian food there!  It was far better than ANY Indian restaurant food we've had in the states.  Our favorite dish was Dahl Tarka.  I loved the flavor of this dish so much that I'm definitely going to look online for some good Dahl Tarka recipes.

Got a favorite Veg friendly, Vegan or Raw Food restaurant in Czech Republic?  Post in the comments section and tell us about it!

Is Organic Meat Healthier than Conventional Meat?

Pam Popper, ND and Founder of the Wellness Forum recently answered this question beautifully in her recent newsletter.  I just had to share it here because this is the issue I get challenged on often from Weston A Price foundation followers.  If you are currently consuming Grass Fed Beef, Organic Chicken and Raw Milk because you think it is health promoting, please read this!

Question: "A friend told me that the reason why people are experiencing health problems as a result of eating animal foods is because of the way we are raising the animals now. On conventional farms, the feed is terrible and the animals are injected with steroids, antibiotics and hormones. Is it true that if you eat organic meat you will not have increased risk of cancer and other conditions?"


Answer: Conventional factory farming is terrible. The way the animals are treated is abominable; they are fed the wrong foods; and animals are injected with steroids, hormones and antibiotics. Even the government acknowledges that the leading cause of antibiotic-resistant infections is the antibiotics people consume in animal foods. Animals raised to be sold as organic food are fed properly, and they are not injected with these substances (antibiotics are only used when an animal is sick).

However, this does not mean that if you choose organic animal foods you can eat them without consequence. The amino acid chains that comprise the proteins in animal foods do not change in response to the way that the animals are fed or the substances that are administered to them. Organic animal protein is just as cancer promoting as conventionally raised animal protein when you consume too much of it (The Wellness Forum's diet allows for 2-3 servings of organic animal food per week for those who are not sick or obese; dairy, of course is eliminated).

The fat in organic animal foods is just as artery-clogging as the fat in conventionally raised animals. While the composition of fat may be somewhat different, studies show that all types of fat contribute to the development of atherosclerosis, including fat from organic animal food, and that a high-fat diet is cancer-promoting.

Dr. Campbell's research in China reinforces the importance of keeping animal food consumption very low. Remember that at the time his team was gathering data, there were no factory farms in China. His subjects lived mostly in rural areas where farms were small, and steroids, antibiotics and hormones were not used. The quality of the animal foods was not a factor in his findings.

Also, at that time, Chinese people were not eating an American-style diet dominated by animal foods, and even at small intake levels there were differences in health outcomes attributed to the differing amounts of animal food consumed.

In conclusion, I do not support our current methods of farming, and acknowledge that conventional factory farms produce food that is not healthful for Americans. But if Americans consume only organic animal foods and continue to eat them in the quantities that are common in the American diet, they will still develop common degenerative diseases like coronary artery disease and cancer.

September's Book Giveaway- Vegan Lunchbox!

Congratulations to Jessica Long!  She is the winner of last month's book giveaway, "The Engine 2 Diet" by Rip Esselstyn.  Jessica increased her chances of winning by posting multiple times on my blog.  Each time you post you get your name on a piece of paper to be drawn from a hat by my daughter Anika.  She's my helper :)

This month I am giving away a copy of Jennifer McCann's "Vegan Lunchbox".  Jennifer was a coaching client of mine from over a year ago.  She has since come out with a second book called "Vegan Lunchbox Around the World".  I love her Martha Stewart like creativity.  The recipes are easy to make and will make any child or adult feel special when they open up their lunch!

Good luck and remember to subscribe so you can receive notice in your email when I post a new blog entry!

Dr. Fuhrman's New Nutritarian Food Pyramid

I am excited about Dr. Fuhrman's new colorful Nutritarian Food Pyramid!  It has all the brightly colored pictures of fruits and veggies that we should be centering our diet around.  He has also added the percentage of calories from each category, which was not featured on his previous pyramid.  You can purchase a magnet for your refrigerator at Dr. Fuhrman's website.