GO VEGAN! - Diet & Nutrition Message Board

canonfilmer1 · 01-25-2001, 12:37 PM

Hi everyone. I see that alot of you are trying to get into good shape. Well, I eat a vegan diet for various reasons. Since I became vegan, I feel so much better physically and mentally. It is a wonderful feeling to know that you can live with about being dependent on an animal or one of its products. I know many of you may be sceptacle about protein substitutes and fat content, but believe me, you can get it. The good thing about the fat and protein in vegan foods is that the fat it contains is "healthy" fat.

01-25-2001, 02:00 PM

I've been trying to convince people on this board forever!! LOL...A vegan lifestyle is the ultimate way to go, you feel great, you do lose weight, your cholestoral levels plummet, you just feel absolutely WONDERFUL!! I don't have half as many stomach problems. (Everybody is lactose intolerant and we wonder why--it's b/c after you're 3 years old or so you aren't supposed to digest lactose at all! It's there in human breast milk for human babies, not to be harvested from a poor cow and ingested.)

Aside from all that, b/c i find that people aren't convinced with evidence like that anyway, is just that it really is healthier for you to follow a vegetarian diet. You'll feel better. You'll look better. You're skin will clear up b/c you stop eating saturated animal fats.

You'll get enough protein, trust me. It's been researched that americans get too much protein, and there is no evidence, NOT ANY, that vegetarians ever show a deficiency in protien, calcium, etc. It's documented that meateaters show extremely high levels of the same vitamins and minerals, and that's just as unhealthy as being supposedly deficient.

That's just my two cents. I've been vegan for a year and I love it. Of course, I'm not in it just for the health benefits, I do it b/c I'm truly against animal cruelty and factory farming. I could never take part in such an unfriendly way of life again. I don't want to ever change!!!

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sare · 01-26-2001, 12:42 AM

you guys have convinced me! i'm a vegeterian and i want to go vegan...is there any advice you can give me, what everyday products from the supermarket can and can't you have...also what are your main meals everyday? i feel really confident about this...i'd appreciate your replies.
thank you

01-29-2001, 12:46 PM

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, Alan, and I'm grateful that you took a very scientific way to explaining yours. I do feel however that there are a few things that you said that I disagree with.

I just don't agree that eating animals is morally right. That's not scientific, that's emotional, and that's how I choose to live. I can't tell you what is or isn't morally right, and I'm thankful that you tried to back up your reasoning for eating meat and animal based products with science rather than saying it's "human nature" or something like that.

On a health based level, though, I just don't see how you can honestly say that eating saturated fats is better for the heart and arteries than say, olive oil, or vegetable oil. I just don't believe that's true. Another thing is that as for protien and B12, I get protein from soy, that's true. But mostly I get it from eating beans and other legumes. Do you know how much protien is in a peanut?? LOL. B12 is hard to come by, but it can be easily compensated with a supplement. I personally don't take a supplement for B12, I just take a daily multivitamin with iron, and a calcium supplement. I'd rather take these pills everyday than eating an animal or giving into the industry that tortures animals for dairy products and eggs. It's a sacrifice, but I don't think at all that my life is in danger because I choose to stay away from eating animals and "their products". I personally feel that this is the best way of living for me, for health reasons and for moral considerations.

Just as a side note, I used to be a really big meateater, and I also looked down on vegetarians. But I just want to say that since I've become vegan, I've felt so much better (health wise) that I can't even describe it. I feel energetic, alive, and much happier. I personally don't think that veganism is for everyone--especially if you can't see it from a moral standpoint, b/c that's where the argument comes from. As long as we can respect each other's beliefs and morals, and don't try to downplay each other and try to be right, then I think we'll be okay in the long run. Respect is the key, and I'm glad we've got it going here.

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starquest11 · 01-29-2001, 04:03 PM

I was a partial vegan for years, and it wasa living total hell.

Putting meat back in my diet is the #1 best thing I've ever done for myself, hands down.

gratefully, Type O