Vegetarian Star

Growing up, poet and vegan Benjamin Zephaniah viewed animals as friends that didn’t judge him by the color of his skin. It was probably this love of animals that played a big role in his decision to become vegan-even if he didn’t know what “vegan” meant.

It seems he cut dairy from his diet without knowing there was a name for it. And when someone called him the name for it, he didn’t take it too well.

During an interview on Veggie Vision TV, and UK based vegetarian themed internet television, he told a story about how he got into a fight with someone who called him “vegan,” because at the time he thought it was some sort of racial insult.

Not sure what happened when he found out the meaning of the word. Maybe he treated the guy to a tall glass of soy milk as a peace offering?

via Serge The Concierge

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At Vegetarian Star, we like to bring you both oldies and goodies-meaning if an article is still relevant, we’ll tell you about it.

Dr. John Briffa examines  celebrities’ food choices and gives the health yah or nay. We found him examing Benjamin Zephaniah-poet, writer of many books including Talking Turkeys and Rasta Time in Palestine, vegan, and animal rights activist.

Zephaniah:
I ‘ve been vegan since I was 13, when I realised I could live happily without taking from the animal world. I don’t like to preach about it but I see myself as an example. I’ve got some Nigerian friends who claim that eating meat enables them to make love to a woman better, and one friend who’s so fat he can hardly move from the chair, and still thinks he’s being African by eating meat.

“I believe in having something raw with each meal, and because Caribbean men are prone to prostate cancer, I usually have tomatoes as they are meant to contain properties that help to prevent it.”

Dr. Briffa:
Garlic
Garlic has various beneficial effects on the body that are believed to afford relative protection from several conditions including heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, deep vein thrombosis and infections such as colds and flu. It seems garlic has the capacity to keep not just potential suitors, but also a range of unwanted ills, at arm’s length.

Soya milk
Soya milk is free from the sugar found in dairy-derived milk known as lactose. This has particular relevance for Benjamin because individuals of Afro-Caribbean stock tend not to digest lactose at all well, and this can give rise to various symptoms of digestive disorder including bloating, diarrhoea and gas. The fact the soya milk contains hormone-like substances known as phytoestrogens that are believed to help protect against heart disease and prostate cancer is another boon for Benjamin.

Plantain
Plantains are believed to help thicken the lining of the stomach and protect from ulcers. They are also rich in selenium – a trace mineral that is believed to help protect against a variety of cancers including prostate cancer.

Read what else Zephaniah puts in his temple, here.

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