Any vegetarians out there?

[Mehm]

This cultural/environmental determinism doesn't seem to fit in the modern era.

my ancestors relied on mainly animal products during the winter for possibly thousands of years; definitely enough time to evolve specific enzymes for animal products. I was vegan for about 2 years and decided to eat a huge stake one day, I had no digestive problems at all. Furthermore, I can drink many glasses of milk or eat any other dairy product with zero intestinal discomfort.

you really don't think my 100% northern european genes have something to do with this?

I'm Scottish and Mexican, probably doesn't fit well with you theory.

umm, mexicans are a mix of mediterranean spanish and indigenous central american.....not exactly nordic

 

[cubehead]

umm, mexicans are a mix of mediterranean spanish and indigenous central american.....not exactly nordic

Who said anything about Nordic heritage? Just wondering where that came from.

 

[Mehm]

Who said anything about Nordic heritage? Just wondering where that came from.

My point was that perhaps people with mainly northern ancestry digest animal products better than those in climates closer to the equator. The difference being caused by the contrast of a 3-4 month growing season vs 12 month growing season.

I'm Scottish and Mexican, probably doesn't fit well with you theory.

Since your ancestry is Scottish and Mexican, half of your genes come from warm environments with long growing seasons, which fits in with my theory.

see what im saying?

 

[protovack]

I was LO-vegetarian for about 6 months. Then I decided it was against the natural order of things and gave it up.

 

[ebola?]

Is that really how you decided?

ebola
np: infected mushroom

 

[satricion]

The 'natural order of things' argument is a crock...we are human beings and we have things like cars, philosophy, laws and ethics. We in the Western world have the luxury (and hence I feel the responsibility) of choosing how to live according to ideas about the best way to go about things.

I haven't eaten meat in I think about six years or so. I eat eggs (chickens will lay them regardless so we might as well) but I drink rice milk because I don't like soy and dairy cows get treated horribly. I eat cheese so long as it contains no animal renet. I don't buy leather and I only drink vegan friendly beer.

I don't think I have experienced any health benefits but certainly no downsides either. I mean, as long as you eat a good meal once a day containing beans/legumes and green leafy vegetables then you're fine. If I don't I start getting broccoli cravings though.

 

[Ravr]

I recently stopped eating meat(including eggs) and stopped drinking milk...

I noticed I get hungary a lot, even though I eat a normal sized meal... before it wasn't like this...

 

[satricion]

Are you getting lots of protein?

Try eating protein rich foods like tofu. Fry it a little before throwing it into a curry or something and you should be fine.

 

[cubehead]

Are you getting lots of protein?

Try eating protein rich foods like tofu. Fry it a little before throwing it into a curry or something and you should be fine.

Bingo and/or legumes

 

[Ravr]

would taking a multivitamin like Centrum account for the variant lost?

 

[satricion]

You mean would it make you feel 'full'? No...but it might help your energy levels and general health if the rest of your diet isn't varied enough.

Seriously, all I do is eat one meal a day that contains legumes, broccoli, spinach and sometimes mushrooms and I'm perfectly fine. I still eat eggs though. For breakfast I have the usual breakfast foods like toast or whatever and lunch is either dinner leftovers or whatever I can buy at uni. I'm completely fine.

 

[Mehm]

Ravr: If you are eating fruits and vegetables, a multi-vitamin is unnecessary. Instead, I would HIGHLY recommend 300 mg of calcium 3x per day (from a supplement), vitamin D supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, and an iron supplement. These are the main nutrients missing from a vegan diet.

satricon: I'm not sure about australia, but in the states, battery cage "egg" chickens are treated worse than almost all other factory farmed animals. "Free range" chickens on the other hand are at least allowed to walk around, establish pecking order etc. That's why I still avoid eggs despite my return to other animal products.

imo, meat and other animal products are MUCH more filling than vegan meals. When I was vegan, I ate tons of tofu, soy protein, fats, etc. Despite this, I kind of figured that if I continued to be vegan, I would have to deal with constantly feeling hungry for the rest of my life....

When I started eating meat again, I started to feel full and nourished again. I really think this has to do with individual body types. And please don't tell me that I wasn't being vegan "right", because I read a bunch of books, followed all of the advice and got plenty of bean/legume protein. Despite this, I always felt malnourished.

btw, animals that don't move and walk around produce little/shitty meat. Animals that are treated well produce high quality meat. Therefore, meat quality correlates with rearing conditions...pretty helpful info when making conscious meal decisions

peace

 

[psychedelicious]

I am a vegetarian of sorts. I do not eat swine, cow, lamb, chicken, etc. Once every couple of months, I have sushi, and I still eat dairy [cheese + very occasionally milk]. Eggs sometimes as well. I feel a lot healthier than when I ate loads of meat. Perhaps a more balanced diet with smaller portions of high quality meat would be healthier, but vegetarian food is just too delicious. I couldn't do away with any portion of my daily meals.

 

[satricion]

satricon: I'm not sure about australia, but in the states, battery cage "egg" chickens are treated worse than almost all other factory farmed animals. "Free range" chickens on the other hand are at least allowed to walk around, establish pecking order etc. That's why I still avoid eggs despite my return to other animal products.

I only eat free range eggs made by companies that don't also make cage eggs.

btw, animals that don't move and walk around produce little/shitty meat. Animals that are treated well produce high quality meat. Therefore, meat quality correlates with rearing conditions...pretty helpful info when making conscious meal decisions

This isn't how it really works. Animals nowadays produce good meat by being pumped full of steroids and hormones. But this is secondary to the fact that regardless of how they are treated they are living beings with feelings and killing them is unnecessary.

 

[jam uh weezy]

I was vegan for 3 years. Went straight from eating everything to going vegan. It was hard. I only cheated twice, once was for some white chocolate that my neighbour made and once for one of those holiday oreos.(mmmmm)

I was pretty careful and made sure I got all the proper nutrients and shit so I haven't really noticed any difference since I started eating everything again, which was about a year ago.

 

[Jabberwocky]

The thing i notice from being a vegan for 4+ years is that i dont get sick often at all. As far as infections go my body seems to ward it off. Im a pretty hardcore vegan as mehm can attest to. I dont eat refined sugar, no any fruits and vegtables that has been waxed. I dont drink filtered waters that use activated filters, i dont consume dyes of any kind unless its from plant sources like annato. I had a tooth infection, and because i dont take drugs/ antibiotics that were either cultured with animal products or contain sugar/gelaten or other animal products in it, i had to let my body heal itself. I split open the gum line and sucked out the bacteria, it healed on its own after that. Amazing what the human body is capable of.

I feel even without supplimenting i get the balanced nutrients i need. Soy milk is fortified with vitamins to mimic milks vitamin and protean properties. The thing i find interesting is that milk doesnt naturally have the vitamins we think it does, thats also a fortified process there as well.

I wouldn't worry about it. No animal was killed to give you your leather coat or shoes; they were killed for steaks and burgers. Without any leather market they'd still be killed.

this is a fallacy cows that are raised for meat are not used for leather. They grow specifically cows for production of leather.

As far as free range that only means that they get an extra 3 feet of cage. So no cage labels are key.

I dont have a problem with people whom eat meat as i constantly remind people its for my own spiritual reasons to not do so. Meat doesnt disgust me it generally smells good, although sometimes it smells like rotting ass meat. The treatment of the animals is what disgusts me. But at this point i tend not to think of the grueling day to day life of how animals are treated anymore which is kinda weird, i guess it means my veganism has become habit instead of moral aversion. But everytime i see a video i get teary eyed.

anyways the other added health benifits i think come from peace of mind and a sense of peace with myself. My colesteral is low my resting heart beat is lower, which sucks if you want to sweat for a work out. also i donate plasma and they test your protean level i have very high protean levels for a meat eater let alone a vegan and im not very conscious of how i peice together my meals.

 

[satricion]

^^
I also donate blood and my iron levels are higher since I stopped eating meat.

 

[stephaniesomewhere]

stopped eating meat 23 years ago, first off all slowly went off things due to a yurkle factor and a pet factor, now however it is just part of my life and I find that I am slowly going off dairy as well without meaning too so I just find myself suddenly realising that I have only had a bit of milk in tea or eggs as part of a dish rather than on their own.
No major issues but I was stoked to read satricion talking about craving broccoli when they are not eating so well, my craving is for spinach, the silverbeet type. When I start thinking about spinach lasagne I know it is time to pay a bit of attention.
Not sure about what Mehm is saying about getting no reaction, I get the runs if I accidently eat stock such as dashi which has bonito (dried shaved fish) in it a tiny bit or even just the flakes of bonito are missed in a dish. Maybe it has to do with time and the longer you haven't had it the slower you should start to eat it again?

Pretty sure that all my other bad habits all but make up for any health benefits.8)

 

[ladyinthesky]

I have been a vegetarian for about 4 years now and i just recently broke that. Not to happy about that, but oh well. i havent noticed any real health changes other than the fact that I bruise a lot easier and i get sick a lot. Thats probably the lack of nutrients that i dont get through out my day. I get lectured everyday by someone that I should eat meat but i am not an annoying vegetarian that tells people they shouldnt eat meat so good luck

 

[Mehm]

liquidphil1 is definitely the most serious vegan i have ever met, and he seems to be in great health.......but has magical powers as well......so maybe he just materializes all of the necessary nutrients i'm actually dead serious about this.

This isn't how it really works. Animals nowadays produce good meat by being pumped full of steroids and hormones. But this is secondary to the fact that regardless of how they are treated they are living beings with feelings and killing them is unnecessary.

Question. Where does your information come from? I get my info from personal experience, ranching family members, and the animal science department at the agricultural university from which I graduated. According to all of these sources, there is a big difference in meat/milk/eggs produced by well treated animals as opposed to mis-treated animals.

Also, if we don't kill animals, how are we supposed to eat them?........seeing as my ancestors have been eating animals for millions of years, i think this is a fair question.