Rosemary Schmid & Alan O’Neill
VEGANS
Believers of the old saying that ‘you are what you eat’, Rosie Schmid (53) and Alan O’Neill (62) advocate getting all the nutrients your body needs from healthy eating.
“We’ve both been interested in eating natural healthier foods since our teens,” Rosie says.
“Most of our adult lives we’ve been vegetarians but for the last six years or so we’ve been vegans/whole food plant-based.”
A vegan diet means Rosie and Al eat foods with the highest nutrient density in unprocessed form. They prefer organic and locally sourced where possible.
“You wouldn’t put oil in your car’s petrol tank and expect it to run well – every meal we should also think about what the best fuel is for our body,” Rosie says. “On a practical level, we enjoy preparing our food and making things like our own wholegrain, oil-free bread, or granola, nut milks and fermented foods using plant-based foods that taste fantastic and are also nourishing.”
“You wouldn’t put oil in your car’s petrol tank and expect it to run well – every meal we should also think about what the best fuel is for our body.”
Rosie and Al’s meals are largely made up of vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, nuts and seeds.
They use a lot of spices and herbs for flavour and additional health benefits. Rosie also uses fresh coconuts to make yoghurt and ice-cream.
“The foods we eat change the expression of our genes, positively or negatively. Just because we have inherited weaknesses in our gene pool doesn’t mean we have to be victims of those genes, or age or die the same way our parents or grandparents did,” Rosie says.
“In our family it’s auto-immune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, MS, thyroid issues and Celiacs disease, whereas Alan’s family has a history of heart disease. We’ve both chosen a vegan diet in an attempt to avoid our inherited genes reaching their negative potential. “We can reduce that risk significantly, even potentially eliminate it, if we’re willing to eat the foods we should, and exercise as we should, every day.”
Rosie and Al say their way of living isn’t that hard once you know what to do, though it helps that Rosemary is a qualified raw food chef with diplomas in natural therapies and nutrition, while Al has a PhD in the sociology of change and qualifications in nutrition and permaculture.
“For those interested in finding out more about how to transition to a more science-based, natural and healthier way of living we’re happy to help,” Al says. “Rosemary conducts cooking classes from home.”
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