This catchy article title has caught my eye more than once this past week: A High Protein Diet Won't Make You Lose Weight Long Term: In Fact, It May Make You Fatter. It's been making the rounds on the internet and has been featured on the front page of Google News for a while, so I thought I'd share it with you.

The headline is a bit misleading as the article is about so much more than a simple critique of high-protein diets. Dr. Dean Ornish talks with Kathy Freston about how emotional eating works, why a high-protein low-carb diet is really only half the story, and why a vegetarian Atkins diet is a bit like "like putting lipstick on a pork rind". If those names sound familiar, you may recall that Kathy Freston was the guest who inspired Oprah to try a vegan diet, and Dr. Ornish is well regarded for his research demonstrating that heart disease can be reversed through plant-based nutrition.

It's not an article about how to lose weight or advocating vegetarianism per se (he doesn't once mention exercise or portion sizes) but it's a must read for anyone seeking to understand "good carbs" and "bad carbs" and how they affect your body's chemistry differently.

Here's the bottom line, according to Dr. Ornish: Savor your food, avoid refined carbs, don't be afraid of unrefined "good carbs" as found in whole, unprocessed plant foods, and examine the role emotional eating may play in your life, if you struggle with your weight and overeating.

Article link: A High Protein Diet Won't Make You Lose Weight Long Term: In Fact, It May Make You Fatter

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Although St. Patrick's Day is considered more of a drinking holiday than an eating holiday, best to fill up those bellies before hitting the local pub! I've compiled a few Irish vegetarian and vegan recipes in honor of St. Patrick. Be sure to hydrate well to help cure that hangover! Happy St. Patrick's day!

Pictured: Vegan Colcannon

As vegetarians (and especially vegans!) we have a clear conscience when it comes to our planetary footprint and our dietary karma. While I can't help you with too many other forms of guilt you may secretly harbor within, these healthy dessert recipes can help you ease any guilt you might feel about overindulging your sweet tooth or feeding the kids too much tooth-rotting sugar. Try out a protein-packed reduced-sugar healthy vegan chocolate mousse recipe (pictured, above left), or, perhaps you fancy a low-cal and nearly fat-free vegan chocolate sorbet (pictured, right). It's ridiculously delicious, and completely guilt-free. Assuming you use fair-trade locally-sourced shade-grown organic cocoa, of course.

Link: Healthy dessert recipes

Make vegetarian stuffed tomatoes with a simple pesto and bread crumb stuffing mixture. Use a homemade vegan pesto recipe to make these easy stuffed tomatoes vegan as well as vegetarian. These could be either a light and healthy vegetarian main dish or a vegan appetizer or hors d' oeuvres. My friend Ben likes to think of these as little tomato cupcakes topped with a pesto frosting.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Ben C. Thanks, Ben!

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