Foodie Question

[m.kids1301]

Keep it balanced...

I became vegetarian at 17 years old and I'm now 58. I didn't like meat eating as a kid (I love animals and didn't like getting an anatomy lesson with each bite of food!) I ate a lot of wheat-based products over the years and soy alternates. My main advice is to make sure you vary what you eat! Soy is so very processed and contains "protein inhibitors" so it's not really that healthy. I suppose if it's eaten as soy beans or sprouts it might still be OK, and Dr. Mercola says it's best to eat fermented soy products like tempeh and miso. Wheat products are really bad if you have a leaky gut, and I now have to avoid wheat and most gluten containing grains. Make vegetables the main thing you eat; limit sugars, and eat beans and small amounts of nuts for protein. We don't need a huge amount of protein anyway. And DON'T worry about what anyone thinks! You will be healthy! Seems like anyone that would complain about it doesn't have the nerve to change their lifestyle so they want others around them doing the same. So sad the way people are feeding a lot of the kids!

[m.kids1301]

I LOVE veggie & fruit smoothies!!!!

[Willow]

I became vegetarian at 17 years old and I'm now 58. I didn't like meat eating as a kid (I love animals and didn't like getting an anatomy lesson with each bite of food!) I ate a lot of wheat-based products over the years and soy alternates. My main advice is to make sure you vary what you eat! Soy is so very processed and contains "protein inhibitors" so it's not really that healthy. I suppose if it's eaten as soy beans or sprouts it might still be OK, and Dr. Mercola says it's best to eat fermented soy products like tempeh and miso. Wheat products are really bad if you have a leaky gut, and I now have to avoid wheat and most gluten containing grains. Make vegetables the main thing you eat; limit sugars, and eat beans and small amounts of nuts for protein. We don't need a huge amount of protein anyway. And DON'T worry about what anyone thinks! You will be healthy! Seems like anyone that would complain about it doesn't have the nerve to change their lifestyle so they want others around them doing the same. So sad the way people are feeding a lot of the kids!

What the heck kind of meats were you eating that you were getting an anatomy lesson with every bite of food??! Sorry but that just sounds straight up crazy to me unless you were eating like, whole prey (which is the way I feed my dogs, but I do get why humans eating like that wouldn't necessarily be appealing despite it being biologically appropriate)

I live to hunt, love meat AND love animals btw, the three are not synonymous



Eta - can you please explain what a "leaky gut" is? I thought such a condition was cause for immediate surgery as it can cause sepsis? As far as I'm aware if the gut is not self contained it WILL kill you?

[NeedaVaca]

What the heck kind of meats were you eating that you were getting an anatomy lesson with every bite of food??! Sorry but that just sounds straight up crazy to me unless you were eating like, whole prey (which is the way I feed my dogs, but I do get why humans eating like that wouldn't necessarily be appealing despite it being biologically appropriate)

I live to hunt, love meat AND love animals btw, the three are not synonymous



Eta - can you please explain what a "leaky gut" is? I thought such a condition was cause for immediate surgery as it can cause sepsis? As far as I'm aware if the gut is not self contained it WILL kill you?

Do you ever find people can't understand how you can hunt AND love animals? I grew up in a MAJOR hunting/fishing household, some people always had a hard time "getting it"!

[Willow]

Do you ever find people can't understand how you can hunt AND love animals? I grew up in a MAJOR hunting/fishing household, some people always had a hard time "getting it"!

Yes.

Mainly yuppie/city folks though so with them I just smile and nod and let them pretend they know everything about everything


Guarantee we spend more of our hard earned money on conservation efforts (many right here on our property), invest in far more conservation programs and own/spoil more animals than they do so they can kiss my patoot if they want to peg me as a non animal lover just because I respect what science says my body was designed to do and just plain enjoy a big juicy steak now and again

[Willow]

For the record, I'm still on the fence but not at all anti GMO anymore.


If you've ever planted a squash too close to a pumpkin and ended up with a crossbred orange zucchini *that* would be considered genetically modified.


In other places in the world where food production is NOT as msinstreamed and available as it is in developed (and very well blessed) countries modifications like that can help grow produce where weather and soil conditions could otherwise make it impossible. I do believe Monsanto presented the idea is a very arrogant a**y way and that's what led to all of the opposition. People are generally skeptical of new concepts, and they think GMO is a new concept.

Really it's not though. It is something that can be done in our backyard gardens, and in nature completely unaided by itself.

Monsanto took that and started to utilize the concept on a broad scale, I think in the name of capitalism but in truth it does have the potential to save lives all over the world by feeding the masses in a way that couldn't be done before.


Do we know in 50 years if those people that consume exclusively GMO products will start growing an extra arm? Not definitively,
but what is the alternative? To just let them to continue to suffer and starve to death?

If you are blessed and have options, and are skeptical then fine, boycott the products....just remember the rest of the world doesn't have the advatanges and same options as we do and at least someone had come up with something to help them.

[SilverSabre25]

For the record, I'm still on the fence but not at all anti GMO anymore.


If you've ever planted a squash too close to a pumpkin and ended up with a crossbred orange zucchini *that* would be considered genetically modified.


In other places in the world where food production is NOT as msinstreamed and available as it is in developed (and very well blessed) countries modifications like that can help grow produce where weather and soil conditions could otherwise make it impossible. I do believe Monsanto presented the idea is a very arrogant a**y way and that's what led to all of the opposition. People are generally skeptical of new concepts, and they think GMO is a new concept.

Really it's not though. It is something that can be done in our backyard gardens, and in nature completely unaided by itself.

Monsanto took that and started to utilize the concept on a broad scale, I think in the name of capitalism but in truth it does have the potential to save lives all over the world by feeding the masses in a way that couldn't be done before.


Do we know in 50 years if those people that consume exclusively GMO products will start growing an extra arm? Not definitively,
but what is the alternative? To just let them to continue to suffer and starve to death?

If you are blessed and have options, and are skeptical then fine, boycott the products....just remember the rest of the world doesn't have the advatanges and same options as we do and at least someone had come up with something to help them.

You do have an excellent point regarding the language and term "GMO". However, I think that what Monsanto is doing is wrong, and is going to have far-reaching unintended negative consequences. Look at what happens when certain animals and plants are introduced to new areas for various reasons, and end up overtaking all the native flora and fauna and causing major problems. I think that Monsanto's GMO plants are in a similar vein. We do NOT understand genetics well enough to predict the untended consequenes of changing the very nature of a food product's genetic make-up. Zuchinni and Pumpkins (to use your example) can cross breed naturally because they are both squash, like horses and donkeys can naturally produce mules. But soy is not supposed to naturally have pesticide in it, and cow feed is not supposed to have antibiotics built in. That would never happen in nature, not in the Monsanto is doing it. He's playing God, and that's dangerous.

Just look at, for example, wheat. Modern wheat is a COMPLETELY different plant from what it was even 100 years ago. It's been changed beyond compare. And now, it has something in it called gliadin, which is a protein distinct from gluten, and is most likely the protein causing the widespread "gluten intolerance" that is a VERY real thing. Did they mean to cause such a big problem with the gliadin? No, of course not. But it happened. And it's having a far-reaching unitended consequence. The newer wheat is just simply not digestible by many people. What will show up in 5, 10, 20 years as a result of the GMO soy? The GMO corn? The GMO whatever else? How will it grow and change as a result of interactions with other plants and oragnisms? THAT is what worries me.

[My3cents]

I have recently watched Forks Over Knives and I have decided to just adopt a plant based way of eating. ( no meat , dairy.. nothing with a face or a mother etc.)

I feel fine and I have lost 8 lbs. in a week... I drink massive amounts of water and eat Tofu for protein.

I have received so much negative comments from my family and friends. " You won't get enough protein" how are you going to get enough calcium?" "You are going to get yourself sick." "you need cholesterol" ... and on and on

I am so confused... everything I have read and heard tells me that I am doing right but people want to blame every sneeze. yawn, or tired feeling on this diet.
I was always tired before this and was anemic before this diet.. but I love this way of eating! What should I tell my family/friends?

a word I can't, don't and won't use in the daycare ::::

seriously mind your peas and q's or honestly I would just nod yes yes and yes, and then still do my own thing. I wouldn't try to push my new way of eating onto anyone else either. Friends and family are just looking out for you or worried about their own insecurities of the way they eat themselves. I wouldn't let it get to me and do what is right for you-

I wish I had your motivation. I am a vegetarian want to be.

[My3cents]

wow! thanks guys!:hug:
A lot to think about and read about.

I am so excited about this and I really don't miss meat or milk ... especially chicken on the bone! I have 32 more lbs to go but I am sticking with this for life... not just a diet to lose weight.

So I guess I am a vegan?
vegetarians consume dairy but vegans don't? :confused:

as far as being anemic... it's just one of those things that I think is better than eating animals that can cause cancer (according to Forks over Knives) and being overweight (in my case) not saying anything about others...
I take iron pills and multi vitamins but I am always exhausted ... and I was before this ...

have your thyroid checked-

[Willow]

You do have an excellent point regarding the language and term "GMO". However, I think that what Monsanto is doing is wrong, and is going to have far-reaching unintended negative consequences. Look at what happens when certain animals and plants are introduced to new areas for various reasons, and end up overtaking all the native flora and fauna and causing major problems. I think that Monsanto's GMO plants are in a similar vein. We do NOT understand genetics well enough to predict the untended consequenes of changing the very nature of a food product's genetic make-up. Zuchinni and Pumpkins (to use your example) can cross breed naturally because they are both squash, like horses and donkeys can naturally produce mules. But soy is not supposed to naturally have pesticide in it, and cow feed is not supposed to have antibiotics built in. That would never happen in nature, not in the Monsanto is doing it. He's playing God, and that's dangerous.

Just look at, for example, wheat. Modern wheat is a COMPLETELY different plant from what it was even 100 years ago. It's been changed beyond compare. And now, it has something in it called gliadin, which is a protein distinct from gluten, and is most likely the protein causing the widespread "gluten intolerance" that is a VERY real thing. Did they mean to cause such a big problem with the gliadin? No, of course not. But it happened. And it's having a far-reaching unitended consequence. The newer wheat is just simply not digestible by many people. What will show up in 5, 10, 20 years as a result of the GMO soy? The GMO corn? The GMO whatever else? How will it grow and change as a result of interactions with other plants and oragnisms? THAT is what worries me.

Fact is, you're right. We don't know what the long term result will be. And all of it deserves concern, skepticism and close, regulated and unbiased scrutiny.

But again, that is a first world problem, and what a wonderful choice to have. The rest of the world does not necessarily have those options. They don't have clean water and they don't have food. If they starve next week will it matter what GMO will have done to them 50 years down the road?

Can we utilize the technology to save lives today and improve upon it tomorrow?

If you had cancer would you want the chemo and radiation knowing it could give you secondary cancers down the road or would you do nothing at all?

It is a huge ethical dilemma for people that are blessed enough to have options but for those who don't I can see where it's a no brainer.


Don't get me started on the gluten intolerance thing ......are there some people who are legitimately afflicted by it? Yes, but the vast majority of it I believe is just hype and fad, same would go for things like autism and many mental illnesses like ADD/ADHD.

Legitimate illness, legitimate sufferers, but no where near the numbers the general public claim.

I am unconvinced there are more or less cases of most afflictions, just better means to diagnose and report.

[My3cents]

Tofu is a good source of protein, if you are buying organic. Most soy products are genetically modified, so that is the main argument against soy. Also, you can get a lot of protein from nuts & seeds. Also, beans are a good protein source.

What about the oils in seeds and nuts? Also what if you don't eat any type of fish- not even tuna?

[Meeko]

Reading this while eating a still warm chocolate chip cookie.......oh dear.....

[Oneluckymom]

Reading this while eating a still warm chocolate chip cookie.......oh dear.....

:: ::

I love this thread and have been following it. Can't say I'm a health but, but would love to be one of these days.

Problem is I have trouble stepping away from chocolate like you meeko

[Michelle]

Reading this while eating a still warm chocolate chip cookie.......oh dear.....

send it to me!
just kidding... (sorta of)
::::::

[littlemommy]

I think it's great to make dietary changes, if they are WELL educated. As far as being vegan, personally, I couldn't do it. We eat meat a couple days per week, but it is always antibiotic/hormone free and local. When the budget allows I get organic/non-gmo fed. We actually have a local certified organic hog coming. The farmers are very picky about how they are slaughtered, and it is done in a quick, humane way. They are free-range pigs, so I know they've lived a happy life!

There are plenty of plant sources that are so good for you. Purslane is one of my favorites. It is considered a "weed" by most people, but is edible and VERY good for you. It has one of highest levels of omega fatty acids of any plant! I love it in potato salad, leafy green salads, and on tacos!

I eat a lot of plant sources of protein. Quinoa, lentils, beans, buckwheat, and amaranth are my favorites!

Good for you for making positive changes! Just be sure to keep a rounded diet so you get all of your amino acids.