Debby, the Healthy Librarian, is just the best health data-driven blogger on the net in my opinion. Entertaining to read and a treasure trove of information, I never finish reading one of her blog posts without learning something important. From blogging about her own health journey with the vegan Esselstyn lifestyle to analyzing big medical questions to talking about books we should all read to enrich our lives--her blog has a wide spectrum of topics that are extremely engaging. Being a medical librarian, she uses her professional expertise to explore topics from an evidence-based medicine perspective--meaning that every single statement she makes she immediately backs up with multiple references that support her analysis. Beyond her information driven posts, I love that we get a glimpse of her richly lived life. She is wise AND fun--some of my favorite parts of her blog posts are when she shares about her time with her husband, family & friends. I admire her so much. The site can sometimes be logistically difficult to navigate but it is so worth the trouble to find some of her previous posts. The recipes in particular are outstanding--every single thing I've made from one of her recipes has become a household favorite. I absolutely love this blog and was inspired to start blogging because of her outstanding work.
Healthy Girl's Kitchen:
Ok, this is another of my daily must-reads! Wendy, the author of Healthy Girl's Kitchen is such an outstanding resource to the plant-based community and has a well-deserved loyal and supportive following. And I don't just say that because I'm so touched that she shared my New Year's post "Dear 268 Pound Me" as a "don't miss" read. She just rocks. What I love about her is that she is so honest and vulnerable about her own inspiring weight loss journey. This is particularly important to me because as someone who has lost a lot of weight myself, it is very difficult to imagine what it feels like to be overweight (or in my case, obese) unless you have walked in those shoes. Wendy has walked that path & the way she shares her story is extremely endearing--you feel like you know her well even though she is technically a stranger! She is unafraid to share what she does & doesn't know and when you read your blog you feel like you are learning along with her! The blog is smart, has great information-driven posts with solid resources & her recipes are fantastic. Did I mention that her recipes are fantastic? :-) Definitely one of the best blogs out there:-).
Vegan Epicurean:
Ali, the Vegan Epicurean, is one inspiring woman. With each of them facing cancer, both she and her husband decided to make a sudden and radical lifestyle change to plant-based eating & lifelong wellness. With each blog post, Ali takes us on this vibrant journey of theirs to live life with health and to the fullest! You cannot help but be drawn in to her energy and honesty. Occasionally she shares some of her medical challenges but her blog isn't driven by disease---its driven by this mission for a healthy life. Not only did she embrace a plant-based diet, she became a student of nutrition, wellness and disease prevention and (lucky us!) she shares what she has learned along the way. A graduate of Dr. Campbell's Cornell Plant-Based Nutrition course, she seems to try to attend every educational seminar available. With a background in healthcare herself, I find her to be a real kindred spirit. Oh! And she has great recipes too! I obviously love her blog!
Disease Proof, Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Blog:
I never miss one of this blog's posts. Dr. Fuhrman's blog supplies me with the much needed information on the latest in nutritional research developments and teaches me very valuable clinical applications of plant-based nutrition. As I still feel a huge gap in my medical training with regards to my understanding of nutrition, I really appreciate blogs like this that help fill that gap little-by-little. I realize that its only a matter of time before I sign-up for Dr. Campbell's Cornell Plant-Based Nutrition Course, but in the meantime, Dr. Fuhrman's blog is an outstanding resource for all of us to learn more about the "why, how & what" of our nutritional health. In addition, I have an enormous amount of respect for Dr. Fuhrman's work and life mission. Its wonderful to have such an accessible source of information from him! I can't recommend this blog enough!
The Happy Herbivore:
If you couldn't tell by my "Best Cookbooks" post, I'm a huge fan of Lindsay Nixon and of course, love her blog (as evidenced by my "Herbie of the Week" Interview as well). Friendly, open & energetic, its no wonder that she has so many fans on Facebook and her latest cookbook sold out on Amazon within its first week! She has hundreds of delicious, free recipes available on her site and her daily posts really give me, among other things, excellent practical direction with my food preparation. She writes about everything from "how to replace fats when baking" to how she followed her bliss--leaving practicing law to become a low-fat vegan chef! She is disarmingly honest & I have an enormous amount of admiration for the life choices she has made along the way. Lately a lot of her posts have been guest written by her sister and her intern. While I like them very much as well, Lindsay's posts are definitely my favorite. She has a strong voice & I believe she is a major rising star in the plant-based world. She is one of the few blogs I actually "subscribe" to over email. I read her posts (sometimes several in one day!) religiously.
The Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen
I've been using Susan Voisin's recipes since before I really knew what the terms "blogs" and "bloggers" meant! It can be hard to eat fat free when you are pursuing a vegan lifestyle but with her incredible collection of recipes you really can't ever complain that fat-free means taste-free. She generally stays pretty recipe focussed in her posts but recently I read a post of hers that was much more self-reflective--of course I loved that! Particularly since she was noticing the negative influence of flour and sugar! Anyways, back to her recipes. She posts pretty much every seven days like clockwork and I find myself eagerly anticipating her posts, excited about the recipe that week and hoping that it has ingredients I can eat!! Subscribe to her blog--you will never be disappointed! Her site has one of the most comprehensive recipe banks around and she has a great vegan blog directory (the "Blog Roll") where you can find over 800 vegan blogs!! I keep forgetting to ask whether she would be willing to add my blog to her blogroll but writing this made me realized I need to! The Blog Roll is a fantastic resource. Oh and in case you don't believe my assessment of her blog--she has 25,000+ fans on Facebook who agree it is awesome!
The Engine 2 Diet's Daily Beet:
How could I not be a fan of one of the Esselstyn's blogs?! Rip Esselstyn is the author of the "Engine 2 Diet," among many other things, and he has developed an excellent team that publishes the "Daily Beet." Its yet another informative and entertaining blog that I learn from and enjoy reading. One of my favorite features on the site is "Plant-Strong Q&A with Fitness Expert Lani"--it comes out every Tuesday and I really like her practical & intelligent answers to readers' questions. Definitely an excellent blog which provides much needed support for us plant-strong folks!
Prescribing Yoga: I love this blog. It gives me such hope about the future of medicine. It is written by a young doctor finding her way through the rigors of medical training while trying to stay centered in her practice of yoga. Its not vegan but it is about health and wellness! I learn from her and am inspired by her!
NEW Blogs (to me!) I'm Loving & Reading Each New Post:
Watch Me Lose 150 lbs!--a fellow Herbie of the Week, Jason is a true kindred spirit in my book. His post series chronicling his journey to obesity is so so so very familiar. After succeeding on the Atkins diet to the point that it made him seriously ill, he saw the light through Forks Over Knives and became a plant-based machine! This blog is an absolute delight to discover--its great to read about another blogger new to veganism, struggling with the same weight issues & obviously in love with his supportive spouse. Oh, and its beautifully written as well!
My New Roots--super nutrient dense recipes, this chef from Denmark is something special. Loving this blog & starting to become a huge fan! I have now made her Roasted Sesame Slaw & its dressing two times in two weeks! And now I have my eye on her "Sweet Potato Hummus" recipe for our menu next week :-)My sister made her Holiday Recipe Contest winner's fantastic Cranberry Pear Tart for Christmas to reach out to my husband and I in our vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free world. It was SO good! I love that she is an advocate for holistic nutrition and not only shares her recipes but also explains why they are nutritious! I also think her "Whole Living Detox Plan" for January is very medically solid (and looks delicious!).
Craxy Sexy Life--cancer surviver, plant-based diet advocate, awesome energy and great guest bloggers! What's not to love? I particularly like her spiritual energy--my kind of happy, love everyone, stay centered to heal message. She has national bestselling books & I can see why!
Other Fantastic Recipe Blogs
Vegan Planet: This is Robin Robertson's blog--my much adored author of two of my favorite cookbooks. For some reason I haven't been following her blog! Ack! I need to get on that--maybe its just because I spend so much time poring over her cookbooks! ,
Awesome Blogs I Read That Aren't Vegan"Wild Life" by Professor Chris Palmer: brilliant, insightful, funny & poignant--this exceptional wildlife filmmaker runs the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at American University among many other things. If you're a fan of Imax and all those nature documentries, you probably have seen one of his excellent films. His book "Shooting in the Wild" blew the whistle on the wildlife film industry's disturbing practice of faking animal scenes for profit. I love his blog. And its not just because he and his wife have been long time friends of my Mom's since my childhood. His energy is an inspiration. His blog's motto sums it up: "Don't seek comfort; rather seek something to be passionate about."
100 Days of Real Food: While I don't always agree with her food choices (omnivore, not low fat), Lisa Leake is a real role model for this new generation of processed food families. She has inspired so many Moms and Dads to give up serving children processed convenience foods in favor of nutritious, unprocessed alternatives. One of my absolute favorite blog series of hers is the year she did the entire family's meals on a "food stamps" budget of $125 a week for a family of four. It really proves that anyone can eat healthy at any income level. If you are a Mom or a Dad trying to make that transition to a healthy diet for your kids, her blog is chock full of great tips to change your family diet.
So that's all folks....:-) Next week I'll share my favorite books!Many, many thanks to all my favorite bloggers for taking the time to give so many of us so much!!
Oh! And I know that many of you look forward to "Medical System Tuesdays" but this week's entry is going to be moved to next week so look for it then!!
