Vegetarians?

[vulturesrow]

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I dont think cutting meat entirely out of your diet is a good idea. Keep eating fish at the very least.

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i'm sorry to be blunt but this is simply nonsense. see, e.g., the long-running framingham heart study.

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I really dont care to start another vegetarian diet pissing contest on this forum. The primary benefit of a vegetarian diet is that it tends to force people to eat healthier in general, in particular eliminating a lot of processed foods from the diet. PErsonally I try to stick to whole foods myself and in spite of a history of heart problems in my family history I have very good cholesterol levels and eat a substantial amount of animal products. I simply think it is a mistake to ignore the the evolution of our species which consisted of an omnivorous diet. Ill leave it at that, flame away.

[JJNJustin]

Vegetarianism is an extremely healthly diet. The key is to avoid refined sugars and refined starches in the place of animal proteins. I would favor including fish as their are many healthly nutrients in fish, including omega-3 fish oil, which lowers bad cholesterol and nurishes the brain.


If you find brown rice and whole wheat pasta, your diabetes will be better in control. Also, there are many vegetables which are medium sources of carbohydrates, yet high in fiber and low in glycemic index, i.e. squashes, yams, jicama, parsnips, beets, carrots, peas, etc. The bitter gourd is also considered of medicinal value for diabetics, improving pancreatitis and lowering blood sugar. Also are chromium picolinate supplements and cinnamon.

-J

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Having been a vegetarian for over 17 years, your reasons for becoming one will not sustain you; you will fail, so don't bother.

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I've been a vegetarian for 3 years, and I'm quite certain it's a choice I've made for life. What makes you think Steve will fail?

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From my experience:

1) People who decide to wait until the New Year to resolve, almost certainly fail.

2) The dozen or so Western people I know who have tried to establish an Eastern philosophy, failed when it came to the diet.

3) There’s a huge difference between say, a macrobiotic diet and a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet. To not know which one’s right for you suggests a serious lack of thought on the subject.

4) It was never established exactly why he wants to become a vegetarian. Ethical? Health? Spiritual was alluded to, but it’s not clear if that’s the reason or for some other novel idea.

5) Too much at once- quit smoking, quit drinking and now wants to give up meat? Good luck.

6) I have never met anyone who has been a vegetarian for longer than 8 years- most people break somewhere between 4 & 5 years.


Reason three is no big deal; everyone starts at the same place, but he needs to do some serious thinking because it’s a lifestyle change and like most, requires a severe amount of dedication (at least in the beginning).

Really, I’m not trying to be negative- just being a realist. Most people have a hard enough time with their regular eating habits, let alone sticking with this kind of diet.

[stigmata]

I think your choice depends largely on your reasons for doing this.

I have personally been a "Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian" for a long time, for ethical reasons. I do, however, buy free-range organice milk & eggs. Also, I think that being a Semi-Vegetarian is actually OK from an ethical standpoint, as long as you are just occasionally eating really good, free-range meat. My basic premise is that factory farming and a lot of modern farming methods sucks. Changing farming methods is a realistic short term goal which is achiavable by consumer choice. The increased availability of organic & free-range produce over the last 10 years is testament to this fact.

If you are doing this on health grounds, then either Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian or semi-vegeterian is the easiest choice. It just depends how much you like meat.

[Talk2BigSteve]

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Which type are you Ed? How difficult is to eat out when you travel?

Big Steve [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

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I'm lacto-ovo. I have no trouble eating out ever. If I were vegan, I could see how eating out might be a problem sometimes.

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Eating out isn't really a problem in most metropolitan cities, but going on a long road trip where there are nothing but fast food is really crappy. Its not that you can't find something vegan, its just that it is really unhealthy and only makes you feel worse. Like you would be better off just staying hungry.

As far as health concerns, I think the thing most vegans don't get enough of is B-12, but if you take a supplement you will be fine; plus if you get the really good kind you will get a "niacin flush" which is real nice. Its like take ephedrine without the shaky feeling. Plus, you can take it a few times a day since it is water soluble.

Another thing vegans don't get enough of is Omega 3 (mainly found in salmon, tuna, etc..), but you can substitute olive oil in certain foods or flax seed oil.

It is definitely easier being vegan now than it was a few years ago and being vegetarian is really easy. Being vegan is much much tougher than being vegetarian. Like, I will crave ice cream or something like that, but I have been vegetarian for 13 years, and other than the first few months, I haven't craved any type of meat at all.

If you do go vegetarian BigSteve, please don't be one of those self-righteous vegetarians. I sometimes want to shove a fucing burger in their face. But, I doubt, because of your Buddhists reasons behind it, this would be a problem.

craig

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Thanks, I laughed at your first sentence about metropolitan city. I live in Meridian, Mississippi the Deep South, where we deep fry the Mac & Cheese.

Yeah I am not going to become some zealot or martyr for vegetables and I am not giving up on wearing my leather Nike sneakers either.

Big Steve [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[stigmata]

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6) I have never met anyone who has been a vegetarian for longer than 8 years- most people break somewhere between 4 & 5 years.

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I do agree that a lot of people break after a few years, but I know a boat load of people who have remained vegetarian for more than 10 years, and I am sure that 80+% of them will die vegeterain.

I think it's probably easier if you don't live in such a meat-orientated food culture. Places like America & France are really tough for vegeterians, due to prejudice, availibilty & temptation. For example, when I go to a restraunt in france, I have discoverd it is much better to order a "plate de legume" rather than asking for something vegeterian, recieveing a dirty look, and then being served fish [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Paluka]

I've been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for over 10 years. I also put a fair amount of effort into making many of my meals vegan, and I often go to the places offering vegan desserts rather than normal ones. However, I live in New York City which is the easiest place in the world to be vegan assuming you can afford to eat out all the time.
I believe that the healthiest diet is going to be a vegan diet done correctly. Any sort of diet can be healthy if done right, and any kind of diet can be unhealthy if done badly.
I think you will find the switch to being vegetarian really easy if you have time to cook for yourself all the time. If you want to eat out a lot, being vegetarian is usually easy but often unhealthy.

I've been a lacto-ovo-vegetarian for 11 years this January.

I strongly disagree with Mitch on this. Becoming a vegetarian isn't hard - if you have the discipline to meditate each morning, I'm sure this won't be a big issue for you. In my experience those who "break" do so because they choose to, not because they lack willpower. I got cravings for a few years, but since I turned 20 or so the thought of meat actually makes me feel queasy. It would take considerable effort for me to go back to eating it regularly.

I recommend that you experiment to find what's right for you. Choose a diet and see how you feel at the end of a month; if you don't like it, make some changes. I don't know how diabetes will affect your choices, but I imagine full veganism would be a challenge. If it helps, keep in mind there's nothing wrong with easing into it - you can start by cutting out red meat, then poultry, etc.

There really is no wrong way to do it as long as you stay healthy. Watch your iron, protein, and B-vitamins and you should be fine.

[stigmata]

Protein isn't a problem for most western diets, esp. if you are lacto-ovo.

Out diet is so overloaded with protein, to the chinese we stink of piss.

[vexvelour]

I really feel that becoming a vegetarian is a great idea if that's what you want. I dedicated myself to it before going to college, but failed because I lived in the dorms and couldn't cook my own food.

However, more than becoming a vegetarian, I think organic foods is the way to go. If you eat only veggies that have been grown and covered in pesticides, you won't feel much better than if you ate a steak for breakfast lunch and dinner. The key is to provide your body with clean, un processed and nutritious veggies, and I promise you'll feel a huge difference. I switched to an organic diet (including organic meat) a few months ago and I feel 1000x better than I ever have. Just a thought. Good luck with vegetarianism.