10.09.2016 ►Jain Vegans ►Newsletter @ HereNow4U

Jain Vegans

In this issue:

Topics

Are you getting enough vitamin B12? -
VEG 1: a supplement designed especially for vegans -

Exciting upcoming events (all 100% vegan friendly):

Sun 18th Sep (2pm): Medical Research without Animals (Bushey)
Sat 24th Sep (2pm): Vegan Indian Cooking Class (Kings Cross)
Sun 24th Sep (6pm): Young Jains Raas Garba (Kingsbury)
Sat 23rd to Sun 24th Oct (all day) - VegFestUK London* (Kensington)
Sat 29th to Sun 30th Oct (all day) - West Midlands Festival (Wolverhampton)

*This year's London VegFest will feature three speakers from the Jain community.

Are you getting enough Vitamin B12?

Very low vitamin B12 intake can lead to anaemia and nervous system damage. Vitamin B12 is almost entirely absent from modern plant foods which are not contamined by bacteria and insects. The only reliable vegan sources of B12 are fortified foods (such as plant milks and breakfast cereals) and supplements.

Many members of the Jain community, especially those aged 50 and over, have been diagnosed as deficient. Even those getting enough to avoid outright anaemia and nervous system damage, may not be getting enough to minimise the risk of heart disease or pregnancy complications.

To get enough B12, you should do one of the following:
1. Eat fortified foods three times a day (at least 1mcg per serving)
2. Take a daily supplement providing at least 10mcg
3. Take a weekly supplement providing at least 2000mcg*

Symptoms of B12 deficiency include loss of energy, tingling, numbness, reduced sensitivity to pain and sore tongue. If you suspect a problem, then get a skilled diagnosis from a medical practitioner as soon as possible.

To learn more about B12, see the "What every vegan should know about B12" (an Open Letter endorsed by health professionals and international vegan advocacy organisations).

*The less frequently you take B12, the more B12 you need to take, as it is best absorbed in small amounts. The recommendations above take absorbency fully into account. There is no harm in exceeding the recommended amounts or combining more than one option.

VEG 1: a supplement designed for vegans

Order Veg1 from the Vegan Society shop

VEG 1 is a supplement that has been developed by the Vegan Society to provide a convenient way to avoid the most common weak points in a varied vegan diet: Vitamin B12, Iodine, Vitamin D and Selenium.

The supplement is likely to be of benefit to Jains who generally eat a varied and healthy diet, but do not get enough sun exposure (vitamin D), or do not regularly eat seaweed (iodine), brazil nuts (selenium), or foods fortified with B12.*

We strongly recommend that members of the Jain community consider taking the VEG1 supplement, especially those who are not getting these nutrients from other sources.

Visit the Vegan Society website to order the VEG 1, and also to find out more about the reasons why it was developed and the recent reformulation.**

* VEG 1 includes small amounts of folic acid, B2 and B6 as these work well with B12, but unlike many supplements doesn't contain nutrients that are likely to obtained from a healthy and varied vegan diet.
** VEG 1 was recently reformulated to include higher levels of vitamin B12 and vitamin D, and the type of vitamin D was changed from D2 to a vegan form of vitamin D3.

Order VEG 1 from the Vegan Society shop

'Medical research without animals' event
Sunday 18th September 2016, Bushey

Date & Time: Sunday 18th September - 2pm to 5pm
Venue: The Niland Conference Centre: 93 Elstree Road, WD23 4EE Bushey
Event cost: Free
Registration required: www.youngjains.org.uk/research-without-animals

The use of animals in medical research causes an ethical dilemma for many Jains - especially those working as professionals in the healthcare sector. We all support medical advances that can help save and improve lives. But as believers in non-violence, we also often feel uncomfortable about the millions of animals that are harmed in medical research and drug development.

The Dr. Hadwen Trust is the UK's leading non-animal medical research charity. They help fund innovative, high-quality, human-relevant medical research that doesn't use animals - research that has the potential to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of animals in medicine.

Come along to this Young Jains organised event to find out more about the use of animals in medical research, the limitations of animal models, and the alternative research that the Dr. Hadwen Trust is helping to fund.

Speakers include:

Dr Alpesh Patel - Scientist and Grants Officer at Dr Hadwen Trust
Dr Kay Miller - Development Director at Dr Hadwen Trust
Rehma Chandaria - PhD student at Nottingham University & visiting researcher at FRAME
Rajvee Punatar - Scientist at The Francis Crick Institute
Dr Anuja Shah - GP and President of Young Jains UK

Vegan Indian Cooking Class with Nishma of Shambhu's
Saturday 24th September | 2:30pm to 5pm | Kings Cross | £40

An interactive demonstration going through the fundamentals of vegan Indian cuisine, including how to use tofu as an alternative to paneer.

Date & time: Saturday 24th September, 2.30pm to 5pm
Venue: The Calthorpe Project, 258-274 Gray’s Inn Road, London, WC1X 8LH. (Nearest Underground station: Kings Cross)
Class size: 12 participants maximum
Class type: Interactive demonstration by teacher
Registration and further information: http://shambhus.co.uk/adult-classes

Young Jains Raas Garba - 100% vegan food!
Sunday 24th September 2016 | 6:15pm til late | JFS School, Kingsbury |

An evening of Garba and Dandia Raas, with 100% vegan desserts and Indian snack food available to purchase during breaks from dancing.

Date: Saturday 24th October
Time: Doors open at 6:15pm
Venue: JFS School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE
Early bird price: £6.50 (members) / £8.50 non-members
Price (after 15 Sep): £9
Further information:
Facebook event page: Click here
Registration: http://tinyurl.com/youngjainsgarba2016-2

VegFestUK London - with 3 Jain speakers
Sunday 23rd & Sun 23rd October | All day | Kensington Olympia

Date: Saturday 23rd October (11am to 6pm) & Sunday 24th October (10am to 5pm)
Location: Olympia, Hammersmith Road, London, W14 8UX (nearest tube: Kensington Olympia)
Price: Advance tickets £12 (limited buy-one get one free offer)
Further information and tickets: http://london.vegfest.co.uk/

London VegFest is one of Europe's biggest vegan festivals, and is expected to attract over 12,000 visitors over the weekend.

There will be around 250 stalls, with delicious vegan food, animal friendly cosmetics and fashion items - many offering free samples and specialist discounts. There will be cookery demonstrations throughout the weekend, including on how to make vegan desserts, vegan cheese, and Jamaican style cooking. There will also be lots of high profile speakers, ranging from vegan athletes and body builders and experts on health and nutrition.

This year we are delighted to announce there will be three speakers from the Jain community.

Nishma Shah of Shambhu's* will be opening the cookery demonstrations on Saturday at 12pm. The theme will be on bananas!

Sagar Kirit Shah will be speaking on Sunday (time TBC) about Jainism, Ahimsa, and the vegan movement in the Jain community.

Dr Tushar Mehta, a Toronto based physician, will be talking about a vegan diet and medical science on Sunday at 1pm.

* Shambhu's is a vegan catering business run by wife-and-husband team, Nishma & Mahersh Shah (also part of the Jain Vegans Working Group). This year, Shambhu's has been selected as one of 10 nominees for a VegfestUK Award under the Best Vegan Caterer category. The nominee with the highest number of votes by the public will win the award.
To cast your vote online for Shambhu's, please visit the link below and follow the simple instructions: www.london.vegfest.co.uk/vote (voting closes at midnight on 30th September 2016).

Other upcoming vegan events

Vibrant social events in London
For information on monthly informative talks, regular scenic walks at different locations in London, social meals at some of the best vegan-friendly restaurants in the city, social meetups in London among like-minded folk, check out the follow links:
London Vegans and London Vegan Meetup

Liverpool Viva! Vegan Festival - Sat 10th Sept
http://www.viva.org.uk/festivals/liverpool-2016

Medical research without animals - Sun 18 September
www.youngjains.org.uk/research-without-animals
Learn more about alternatives to the use of animals in medical research with Young Jains and Dr Hadwen Trust.

Vegan Indian cuisine cookery class - Sat 24 September
http://shambhus.co.uk/adult-classes/

Scottish Vegan Festival (Edinburgh) - Sat 1st Oct
www.scottishveganfestival.com

Northern Vegan Festival (Manchester) - Sat 15th Oct
www.northernveganfestival.com

Cambridge Vegan Market - Sun 16th Oct
www.veganmarkets.co.uk

VegfestUK London (Olympia) - Sat 22nd & Sun 23rd Oct
http://london.vegfest.co.uk
Come and see Shambhu's vegan cookery demonstration on Sat 22nd Oct. Tushar Mehta and Sagar Kirit Shah will also be speaking.

West Midlands Vegan Festival (Wolverhampton) - Sat 29th & Sun 30th October
http://midlandsveganfestival.org.uk
Shambhu's will be catering at this event.

London Animal Free Festival (Kings Cross) - Sun 30th Oct
www.facebook.com/londonanimalfreefestival

For a list of many other great upcoming vegan events, visit this link:
www.shambhus.co.uk/events

Vegan recipes & cookery classes

Do you need advice and tips on how to veganise your favourite dishes or perhaps you're looking for ways to introduce more plant based cuisine into the family diet? If so check out the following listings:

http://www.jainvegans.org/recipes/
http://yummyvegan.tumblr.com/
https://veganjain.com/
http://plantshift.com/recipebook/

Would you like to share the recipe for a favourite Jain vegan dish? Please email us on for publication on our website.
(Please accurately state all measurements in metric units)

Vegan cookery classes & demos

Abuse and killing of cows in milk production

The abuse and killing of cows on dairy farms is the main reason why many members of the Jain community have decided to make a switch to a vegan lifestyle:

The cow is forcefully impregnated by means of artificial insemination. If a cow isn’t made pregnant, she won’t produce milk.
The newborn calf is normally taken away from its mother within 24-48 hours. This is traumatic for cows, who, like human mothers, are very motherly and develop strong bonds with their babies.
Male calves are killed shortly after birth or sold on for meat/leather production. They have no other use to dairy farmers.
Female calves are kept on to replace their mothers as milk-producing cows.
The mother cow will be killed when 5-7 years old, even though she could live for 15 to 20 years if given the chance. This is because after bearing a calf and giving milk each year, her milk yield drops such that it is no longer profitable for a dairy farmer to keep her alive.

Even though cows on organic farms might experience slightly better conditions, they are still artificially inseminated and killed long before they would leave their bodies naturally. For further information about the way in which cows and other animals are exploited in the milk production process, please visit the Vegan Society website: http://www.vegansociety.com/try-vegan/why-go-vegan

NHS website supportive of a vegan diet

For further information on vegan health nutrition, please consult the Vegan Section on the NHS website or visit this link: http://www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health

Alternatives to dairy to help you give up

It is possible to get a range of dairy free alternatives to traditionally animal based products. Normally available from free-from sections of supermarkets and also from health food stores.

You can easily replace:

Cow milk with Soya/Rice/Almond/Oat/Hemp/Coconut Milk (Supermarket ownbrands, Alpro, Provamel, Bonsoy, Ecomil, Koko)
Yoghurt / Dahi with plant based curds (Provamel, Alpro, Sojade, Coyo, supermarket own brands)
Butter with vegetable spreads (Pure and Vitalite are commonly available from supermarkets. Note many margarines contain butter milk and thus are not suitable for vegans)
Cheese / Paneer with Dairy Free Cheeses (Tofu, VBites, Sheese, Tofutti, Vegusto, Vegourmet, Violife)
Ice Creams with sorbets or dairy free ice creams (Bessant and Drury, Swedish Glace, Booja Booja, Almond Dream, Coyo, supermarket own brands)
Chocolate with dark chocolate (Plamil and Organica do specialist dairy free ‘milk chocolate’ and many brands do vegan dark chocolate)
Eggs with egg replacement powder (baking) or tofu (scrambled)
Honey with maple syrup, rice syrup, agave syrup, date syrup or golden syrup

About Jain Vegans

Jain Vegans supports members of the Jain community in the transition towards a plant-based low-himsa lifestyle, and helps raise awareness about the abuse, violation and killing of cows in milk production.

You can find out more about Jain Vegans online (www.jainvegans.org) or interact with us through the following online channels:

..a friendly online forum where you can ask questions and exchange ideas about the vegan lifestyle with other members from around the world....

...follow us on Twitter (@JainVegans) for instant news and information...

'like' us on facebook for updates on our activities and invitations to events...

JAIN VEGANS WORKING GROUP

In the UK, the Jain Vegans Working Group actively works with UK Jain organisations to deliver informative and empowering events on a plant-based lifestyle, and to encourage them to make the transition to all-vegan catering at their events. Please us if you'd like us to help your Jain organisation/community in this way. Please also if you are interested in supporting our activities, for example by volunteering.

With warm wishes,

The Jain Vegans Team