>>I want to be a vegetarian now. Can you help me with problems I've faced?<<
To the OP I can only relate my experience, it's a pretty good plan if you wanted to become vegetarian because I didn't want to, I used to eat meat in every meal and until 6 months ago I thought vegetarians were the biggest, stupidest, childish sissies in the world. I thought it was an inferior diet, lacking the qualities of a complete diet.
Then someone dear to me directed me to a book called, "The China Study", written by a leading Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University, T. Colin Campbell.
While reading it, I noted that the amounts of meat he was noting to cause disease was a typical percentage of the meat that I would eat. I'd never previously even thought about what percentage of my meal was meat. I was just finishing this book when they started advertising the sandwich with chicken breasts instead of buns, smothered in cheese, at the same time you see headlines all over about how all our health problems are growing, and it just clicked for me that the information this book was portraying was probable, or likely. He also points out the amount of money the meat, egg, and dairy industries pump out in advertising and the special interest groups they form to flat out steamroll any report, individual, or group publishing material to the contrary of what they'd have you believe.
From that book I looked up Caldwell Esselstyn, a top surgeon from the Cleveland Clinic, a top person at a top establishment in the field of cardiology. He worked completely independant of Campbell, and found that instead of life altering procedures, which didn't treat the root of the problem, he was able to reverse heart disease in patients by diet alone with less cost, safely, and with more success. Sadly the Cleveland Clinic had no interest in his program because their money comes from performing procedures. Another man, John McDougall has the same results reversing heart disease (top killer today) with a low fat, whole food, vegan diet.
From there I watched a movie called "Earthlings", which left me not wanting to support the companies that profit from factory farming, if nothing else. They spend so much money marketing their different products trying to make you think the meat you're buying is from a small farm like the ones you see along the road in the country. The fact is, even if the label has a small farm pictured, it's likely owned, or supplied by one of the few mega farms. We therefore justify "good" meat, from local organic farms, but unless the price is double, you're just buying into one of the "fake" small farms. They put so much effort into masking the true source of the product. There is "free range" beef that is chained to a wheel and just walks all day in a circle like a chain gang.
From there I watched videos of Esselstyn where he discusses his findings which are all over the internet. He and Campbell have a joint movie coming out called, "Forks over knives" about how what you eat with your fork can prevent getting cut open with knives for surgery.
Watching "The future of food" makes you think about what you buy as well.
I fish, I grew up on a farm, I'd eat meat if I was visiting a relative on a farm that grew it, but I no longer buy meat/egg/dairy at the store and havent had any in months.
Your body stockpiles around 3 years worth of B vitamins, if you don't eat meat for a solid 3+ years you can consider taking a supplement. Other than that drawing as many colors into your meals the better, red, green, yellow, orange, purple, as well as nuts, grains and fresh fruit.
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GSmith9072
14 years ago
"I was just finishing this book when they started advertising the sandwich with chicken breasts instead of buns, smothered in cheese, at the same time you see headlines all over about how all our health problems are growing, and it just clicked for me that the information this book was portraying was probable, or likely."
As opposed to the highly refined sugars in white bread? Why do you wonder where our health problems are coming from? People do not eat a shred similarly to how they were meant to eat. Heavy cooking, modification, processing, pesticides, antibiotics, pasteurization, does that ring any bells or is it just the steak we've evolved to eat doing us in? Do a search on the benefits of raw milk. What they are meant to eat, does not solely consist of vegetables. Animals do not evolve to eat something that will harm them. That may be why our heavily processed diets are causing us to drop out and gain genetics predisposing some to extreme obesity and other health problems, yet not our original, raw, omnivorous diets. In effect, the China study is filled with logical fallacies and doesn't constitute as actual science. I would rather stick to stone cold first-grade logic.
"From there I watched a movie called "Earthlings", which left me not wanting to support the companies that profit from factory farming, if nothing else."
I think it's noteworthy that you aren't harming these industries when you choose to stop supporting them. They simply do not view you as a consumer they should care about, and no animals are released on your behalf. When you support buying your meats from alternative farming, then you are in their radar.
BUGS
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