The Vegans Are Coming!

Going vegan might not be for everyone, but health conscious individuals are giving it a try. Recently, a low-fat vegan diet was shown to reduce the need to take medications for type 2 diabetes and also showed to help overweight individuals loose more weight and lower overall cholesterol.

“Vegan Breakfast Cookies” from Bella's Cookies in Milton are quickly disappearing from the stores and markets in which they're found. “We can’t keep them in stock,” said Krissy Clary (General Manager of Java Beach in Lewes). Created as a healthy meal replacement for Kelly and Mark Leishear's children on their way to pre-school, the two were confident in the future response from the public as Bella's Cookies began distributing their all natural and organic creations this past May. "Kelly wanted to create a cookie that was packed full of ingredients that were really good for your body, something you could eat and have it stay with you a while, and she wanted to create it without using any egg or dairy," said Mark Leishear (Director of Sales & Marketing). The vegan diet is plant-based and consists of vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes and avoids animal products, such as meat and dairy.

Earlier this month, the results of a low-fat vegan diet study were released and the diet was shown to be very beneficial to those suffering from type 2 diabetes. Compared with subjects who followed the ADA (American Diabetes Association) diet on reducing the need for drugs to manage diabetes, kidney function, cholesterol levels, and weight loss, the low-fat vegan diet showed significant advantages. 43% of those on the vegan diet reduced their need to take drugs to mange their diabetes compared with 26% of the ADA diet. Weight loss from the vegan diet was more than double from the ADA diet, LDL "bad" cholesterol dropped by more than double, and blood sugar control also improved more significantly.

To the excitement of their cookie fans throughout the area, Bella's Cookies recently introduced its second vegan breakfast cookie, "Fruit Melody." Described as a "dried apricot, apple, raisin, granola, and oat cookie with applesauce," each cookie packs 8 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, has 290 calories and 1.5 grams of saturated fat. The cookie is made with a vegan butter, which is made from a mixture of expeller pressed canola oil & palm fruit oil. "I’m always asked about our vegan cookies” said Leishear “people want to know about the butter, what we use in place of the eggs, or they just want to thank us or compliment us on turning out our products… it’s very rewarding to know that something we created in our kitchen… from scratch can have such a positive effect on people’s eating habits.”

The vegan diet represents a major change from current diets, mainly because there are no limits on calories, carbohydrates, and portions. That being said, the vegan diet might be easier for traditional dieters to follow. "The vegan diet is tough… no meat or dairy," said Leishear "for those that want to start, or for those that just want to eat healthier, we get them started."

Bella's Cookies is Delaware's 1st all natural and organic cookie company, specializing in the aforementioned and vegan breakfast cookies. Cookies can be ordered via the company's website at www.BellasCookies.com, by phone at 302-684-8152, or through various retail locations throughout Delaware and Maryland.