Vegetarianism

knumpcy wrote:

A strange thing happened while at work the other day. A guest was ordering for dinner and said I am Vegan and I can eat the beef dish if it was not prepared with dairy or no sauce on it or with it. I am still scratching my head on that one and also wondering if I should flee Michigan quite quickly!

*facepalm* I think you should flee! :silly: That man obviously doesn't know a thing about being Vegan and probably started with it just because some people seem to find vegetarianism cool and \"wear\" it like the new fashion. :S

The problem I often find about \"The Food Police\" is that they brag about vegetarianism being healthy while omitting to say exactly what is healthy about it or giving information how to eat vegie. I often wanted to slap some of my friends while they went through a vegie phaze, because they would stuff themselves with fastfood and other junk, basically eating worse then before...

I have a book at home, written by a gropu of doctors and nutritionists, in which I've read that we can divide people in two types when it comes to diets; those that are tolerant to carbs and those that aren't. Basically it means that some people are very tolerant to carbs and can stuff themselves with them the whole day and won't gain weight (naturally if they do sports), while the others aren't so tolerant and should avoid as much crabs as they can, and have a diet mostly based on meat and vegetables that are rich in fiber. Don't get me wrong, the authors don't say that the \"carb-tolerant\" people shouldn't eat meat, on the contrary, the authors take an anti-vegetarian side.

blakc_magnolia, does that book mention anything about the 3 basic body types?

Ectomorph = naturally skinny, can eat more or less whatever they want without gaining weight, due to a faster metabolism.

Endomorph = naturally heavier, with a slower metabolism, and have to be very careful of what they eat to prevent weight gain.

Mesomorph = the classic \"athletic\" build, tends to gain muscle and burn fat the easiest.

That's a very simplified description, and most people are a combination of 2 or even all 3 types. But it does seem to fit in with what you mentioned, about some people being able to eat all the carbs they want (ectomorph) and others having to be very careful with their carb intake (endomorph).

Morgana wrote:

blakc_magnolia, does that book mention anything about the 3 basic body types?

Ectomorph = naturally skinny, can eat more or less whatever they want without gaining weight, due to a faster metabolism.

Endomorph = naturally heavier, with a slower metabolism, and have to be very careful of what they eat to prevent weight gain.

Mesomorph = the classic \"athletic\" build, tends to gain muscle and burn fat the easiest.

That's a very simplified description, and most people are a combination of 2 or even all 3 types. But it does seem to fit in with what you mentioned, about some people being able to eat all the carbs they want (ectomorph) and others having to be very careful with their carb intake (endomorph).

Nope, they don't mention Sheldon's somatotypes anywhere. I can't recall the exact names they use either, I think something like nomad and farmer (I'm fairly sure they only mention two types in the book)... I would have to look it up, but I don't have the book with me...

I believe it has something to do with anthropological nutritionism theory. Historically man started out as a hunter. Moving as the herds of animals moved. It was the easiest way to hunt down an animal. Later on he discovered that in certain seasons of the year there are berries and other plants that were tasty and not so poisonous. Adapting to that behavior man became more static than before allowing first settlements to be erected. Yadda yadda yadda, rest is history. Sumer, Ur, Egypt, Greece, Rome, war here war there, bit of a revolution, McDonalds, internet.

But back on track, a few scientists discovered that the tastiest food for a certain individual, is usually based upon it's blood type. 0+ were the first to evolve to a stable level. They were hunters. Ergo, 0+s enjoy meat. Don't want to say a wrong info so I'm just going to use the 0+ for an example. You can figure out the rest.

Tastiest maybe. But for the blood type to correlate with a complete nutrition system it's just a bit stretched too far. Then again, there is the theory, that people are dependent on the proverbial fat of the land. Meaning, if you were born Italian you should go for Mediterranean diets and so on. That again is dependent on the results you wish to accomplish. There was a research in the mid 80's observing the cardiovascular disease rates in two little villages. One was in Malta and all their dishes were based on olive oil. The other one was in Bavaria, and their dishes were based upon pig grease. Due to the hype \"they\" are feeding us, the cholesterol alone should have killed them all when they were 20. Of course, the cardiovascular illnesses were in the same rate in both said villages.

Is human vegetarian of carnivorous is out of the question. He is omnivore. People who decide to be vegetarian or vegan have the ability to start TAKING that diet. It however does not mean they were meant to be vegetarian or vegan, respectfully. Simple fact. Nature's food chain says this in ascending order; Plants, bugs, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, humans, zombies.

Now, putting aside the zombies, we're pretty high up the food chain. Last time I checked, at least. Further more, humans know a lot about nutrition and it's effect on human body. And by a lot I mean A LOT. It is possible to have a perfect diet, depending on the goals you have in mind. If you want to look skinny and anemic, as I not so willingly do, you can. If you want to look flabby and fat, you can. So basically hard gainers don't exist. Just people who don't consume enough calories daily.