Vegetarianism

Ah! Thank you, Polaristhe2. ^.^ I appreciate the time you put into elaborating and I have to say I found that very interesting, particularly as I did not take anything like biology since I was a child and tended to ignore sciences on the whole in favour of arts.

The growth bit caught my eye particularly, as I'm just a tiny person. I recall hearing a long time ago that rice (possibly carbohydrates on the whole?) stunt your growth if you survive solely on them. Scientists used that to 'explain' why we Asians are so short as most of the food in China is just made of rice and we're brought up in a culture that predominately consumes rice even if we move away from China. :S

Polaristhe2 wrote:

Morgana wrote:

Beans and rice together make a complete source of protein (something about that particular combination, each complements the other) and there is iron in molasses. So it is possible to get the nutrition that you require, you just have to take a bit more time to think it through.

Not wanting to double post or anything, but I completely disagree with you on the subject of getting complete nutrition from a vegetarian/vegan diet. On at least 10 accounts.

hmmm... I could swear she was talking about \"required\" nutrition, not \"complete\" nutrition... nevermind...

I agree that a vegan diet, ergo without any animal protein, isn't a good or complete diet by any means, but still the people that choose to live/eat that way are able to survive, so if it's their choice and they don't pester others with it, then they can do whatever the hell they want, just let me enjoy my steak. :silly:

Nice work Polaristhe2 for writing all that info up!

I was a vegetarian for about 5 years, the only animal product I ate was honey. I was unbelievably skinny, and got sick a lot. Hmmmm. And I was eating a nutritionally complete diet, or so I thought. I was also the cook in an Ashram for a few years, preparing food nightly for about 30 people, so I know a thing or two about vegan/vegetarian nutrition. But I have never felt better than when I eat meat. I am a rather athletic person, and I just didn't have the muscle mass or stamina to continue running, and I suffered several injuries that are now permanent problems, because my connective tissue just didn't have the strength due to lack of protein in my diet. Bad knees compounded by the fact that I wasn't eating meat.

I have been back to a \"normal\" diet since about 1997, and I have been so much healthier overall since that time.

My sister is a veggie, though, but she will eat some seafood, but not often. But she has been doing it for about 20 years, and has no problems with her health. Maybe some people just adapt better to the diet? I don't know.

But I agree with everyone who can't stand being preached to about being a vegetarian. We call those who get violent when you eat a cheeseburger \"Militant Vegetarians\" or \"The Food Police.\" They just can't keep their opinions to themselves. I don't enjoy being preached to about anything.

black_magnolia wrote:

Polaristhe2 wrote:

Morgana wrote:

Beans and rice together make a complete source of protein (something about that particular combination, each complements the other) and there is iron in molasses. So it is possible to get the nutrition that you require, you just have to take a bit more time to think it through.

Not wanting to double post or anything, but I completely disagree with you on the subject of getting complete nutrition from a vegetarian/vegan diet. On at least 10 accounts.

hmmm... I could swear she was talking about \"required\" nutrition, not \"complete\" nutrition... nevermind...

Define required. As I already said, sure. Man can eat almost anything and live on it. But certain parts atrophy. For example, there is a big offensive on cholesterol. Human body is composed of roughly 80% water and 16% refined cholesterol. 40% of a human brain is cholesterol. It's not natural fats that kill us. Supplements and artificial garbage is what poisons us. Then there is the already mentioned B12 vitamin complex. Sure it can be consumed via pills that have synthesized b12 complex. SYNTHESIZED. In Nazi Germany, there was a man named Joseph Goebbels who was the Minister of Propaganda. He knew that if you control what the people see (TV and movies), if you control what they hear (radio), if you control what they read (newspapers and magazines), you can literally control what they think. This used to be called \"mind-control\" or \"brainwashing\". Today we call it \"marketing\". If you tell people only what you want them to know, and suppress the rest, the population will believe any half-truth or theory that you tell them. The medical profession and drug companies have suppressed most nutritional information. This way they can sell us more drugs.

So not only do you lose muscle tone, if you don't know too much about nutrition, you get poisoned and die as a statistical number.

I don't track what I eat, because I tend to be somewhat obesssive, and I know from past experience that focusing too much on food is just... not good for me (I could go into great detail about this, but I just don't want to). However, I do seem to get sick less often, and just generally feel better overall, since I stopped eating meat. I still work out like I always did, including weight-lifting, and haven't noticed any problems or decrease in strength.

I seem to recall from one of the intro threads that we have a qualified nutritionist here, although the name escapes me at the moment. I'd be interested to hear from them on this topic.

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!

Though for some one thing is good for them and harmful to another. For years my parents and brother were doing the health foods supplements and nutrients and look where they are at this day(Mum 65yrs is buried in Ohio and Father 70yrs is in my dining room in an urn). My brother during most of his vegetarian and vegan insanity was constantly sick and was heavier than I. Myself on the other hand have started riding my bike to work again and like yrs back(40miles work per week and 300 per week casual riding)though 15 miles round trip per week @ 5-6 days.

I stayed the same weight 165lbs for the 3yrs I rode at 6ft3in. I ate every fast food type meal before and after work and still stayed the same in excellent health diagnosed by my doctor at the time and still smoked cigs now cloves and my health insurance was cheaper than a non smoker that did not exercise at my same age and height, quoted by Met Life Insurance company in 2004. As posted earlier it is the governments, doctors, drug companies, ignorance is the real problem....Oh sorry this was about foliage furors. I am sorry please continue on and don't mind my insane rants.

Enjoy the Day!