Are you vegan or interested in learning mor... - Healthy Eating

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Are you vegan or interested in learning more about the vegan diet?

MaddieHU profile imageMaddieHUHealthUnlocked55 Voters

Please select one:

21 Replies
Yviemcg profile image
Yviemcg

Only because I like meat too much!!!

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington

I believe that "man" is an omnivore. If you study his teeth and his gut there is evidence of his eating and digestive systems being designed for meat and vegetable matter. To compare vegetarians with vegans, man has eaten the produce of his animals for centuries; eggs, milk butter and cheese.

I am not anti the vegan diet but I do believe that they do have to be extremely careful to ensure that they are getting all the nutrients in the right balance in the daily food intake. There are a lot of foods which man is simply not adapted to; an example are products of soja and there are dangers in chemically created vitamins. There is an interesting article about soja at: healthscams.org.uk/soy-food...

We believe in a wide variety of whole food, organically produced if possible.

Tibbly

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington

Well said Dotie2011, you've got it about right. You tamper with food at your peril.

Tibbly

Bong1968 profile image
Bong1968 in reply to Tibblington

I don't understand why you would consider veganism to be 'tampering' with food.

Vegans don't restrict themselves to genetically modified produce any more than an non-vegan would chose to opt for highly processed carcinogenic meat products. 🙄

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington in reply to Bong1968

I made no mention of G.M. foods but simply suggested that some foods for vegans have been created from non-foods; Soja that I mentioned, is a case in point. Personally I wouldn't consider a vegan diet but then you are free to follow whatever food intake suits you but I do worry about artificially developped vitamins. Where possible we opt for grass fed meat and free range hens etc. In fact we now have a chicken product in our local supermarket that guarantees that the hens have not been treated with antibiotics; as you will understand they get into the food chain and reduce their effectiveness when required to treat illness. We are fortunate in living in a rural community where organic produce is freely available to include raw, untreated milk. We never buy highly processed foods of any kind.

Be happy, stay fit.

Tibbly

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington

That's an interesting point of view I have never thought of. We learn something every day.

Tibbly

Bong1968 profile image
Bong1968

Veganism is definitely not new! Where did that come from?

You can eat an extremely healthy and balanced vegan diet very easily these days!

The only thing that people struggle with is B12.

This is found in soil which then finds its way into plants etc.

As you may appreciate it depends on the soil quality.

Organic products would possibly yield more but it's still difficult to get enough of this vitamin as a vegan.

The only reason you may get B12 from meat is because the animals diet is either fortified with supplements or they are fed other meat by products. It is then produced in their guts by anaerobic bacteria.

Don't get me started on the antibiotics and hormones that get injected into animals reared for food.. 😡

Many people chose to adopt a vegan diet for ethical reasons.

If you're do a bit of reasearch into the dark side of animal husbandry you may understand their reasons.

A good place to start is battery hens...

At the end of the day everyone has a choice but please don't knock it until you've tried it.

Frostie2560 profile image
Frostie2560

I’m not interested in veganism but that doesn’t mean I’m against it. Each to their own. It’s all about choice😊

TheAwfulToad profile image
TheAwfulToad in reply to Frostie2560

I agree. Everyone has their reasons for eating what they eat, and some of the vegan arguments - for example regarding animal welfare - are important and relevant.

I only get upset with misrepresentation of veganism as being extraordinarily healthy, or a cure-all for environmental problems. It's probably more healthy than the burgers-and-coke diet, but there are as many variants of veganism as there are of carnivore diets - some good, some not so good. Potatoes, for example, have an incredibly high glycemic index and are probably not that good for you in any quantity.

I know a guy who calls himself vegan but basically subsists on white bread sandwiches, vegetable curries, and whisky. He's taking statins and other random pills for diet- and sloth-related illnesses. I'm guessing that's not what the average vegan has in mind when he extols the benefits of his lifestyle :)

Activity2004 profile image
Activity2004Administrator in reply to TheAwfulToad

Sweet potatoes have less carbs than the white/regular potato, TheAwfulToad , but I do agree that the regular potatoes aren't as good for a person if they are counting carbs and/or diabetic.

TheAwfulToad profile image
TheAwfulToad in reply to Activity2004

Yes, funny that isn't it? Another odd one is wheat tortillas (which have a much lower GI than either bread or corn tortillas). Very hard to guess GI numbers.

I brought up potatoes because vegan meals are far more likely to be carb-based, and in the UK potatoes are a default choice for carbs, especially in low-fat-obsessed Britain.

I have two vegan restaurants near me - we have some vegan relatives so we go there occasionally. Although their food is good, everything is really, really stodgy. So I suspect vegans only get away with this because starches without animal fat are rather monotonous, so you eat smaller meals. Or, less contentiously, this is probably one area where the dieticians are correct: if you eat a lot of fat AND carbs (which would be standard for a carnivore), you'll ingest a lot of surplus energy because that combination pushes all the right evolutionary pleasure buttons.

Of course vegan food doesn't HAVE to be like that. There's another restaurant we go to that serves ... well, vegetables. All sorts of vegetables. There's another that does salads and pizza, with lots of (vegan) cheese. I like both of those, although the cheese is almost certainly margarine-based. The vegan relatives, incidentally, are slim and healthy (although disturbingly pale). They eat a lot of coconut-derived fat.

Neldine profile image
Neldine

My husband's a total carnivore. I have enough agony cooking/preparing one meal, I won't be doing two separate meals. Besides, did the macrobiotic diet in the 70's, kind of stunk. I love veggies, but still love a nice piece of fish, or cheese, even a rarely had steak.

exponential profile image
exponential

I have turned vegan for a while now, I kinda need some more recipes and food ideas but I am not sure what to follow.. Do you have any favourites yourself?

Bong1968 profile image
Bong1968 in reply to exponential

If you subscribe to One Green Planet you'll receive a daily email with some vegan recipes included. There's also an app (think it's about £15 for a year) which has thousands of recipes -

onegreenplanet.org/foodmonster

thegreekvegan.com is another source of delicious vegan food. The apple cake is delicious!

Hope this helps! 😊

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington

Another worthwile comment Dottie. You obviously select your food as we do.

Tibbly

An interesting poll Maddie, I am very interested in a vegan diet as I want to include as many options into my diet as possible and I'm fascinated with things like 'cheese' sauce made with pumpkin seeds.

I'm a diagnosed coeliac and I feel that I have enough dietary restrictions as it is, however I admire people who make an ethical stand for the things that they believe in.

So I see vegans in a good light including vegans who eat vegan junk food because that is still an ethical choice so I feel respect.😊

Frostie2560 profile image
Frostie2560 in reply to

junkitup.co.uk/

I ❤️ Newcastle Upon Tyne .

Bong1968 profile image
Bong1968 in reply to

Or if you can't get to Newcastle....

uk.huel.com/products/huel-g...

Activity2004 profile image
Activity2004Administrator in reply to

I second that, Hidden ! Having already a lot of restrictions for food because of health reasons can make a person want to support the ones who are doing a vegan diet, but you yourself can try some of the items if they work with what you're (the you in general) doing already. :-)

Did someone comment on Oreo munching vegans of late? Just saying. :) maybe, there are different schools amongst different vegans. I wouldn't be surprised. I do have respect for people, who believe in and are committed to any social conscience/cause but since one well known vegan follower was found to have committed some shameful crime, I see that nobody deserves more respect than anybody else. As for a vegan diet, I enjoy eating what they make and the food is great. Thanks to this site, I started experimenting more. Generally, I'm coming from a healthy eating background anyway. I noticed a lot of misleading info going around.

Fruitcake69 profile image
Fruitcake69

Even though I am vegetarian (I eat eggs and dairy), I do not wear leather, silk or merino wool. I also do not eat anything with gelatine in, which is difficult as I absolutely love Haribo! I know there are some Haribo that are veggie but their not the ones I love, unfortunately! I also only eat cheese and dairy products that are suitable for vegetarians - i.e. do not contain rennet.