Foodie Question

[Michelle]

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.

I am definitely going to follow everyones advise on here!
I am just so amazed about how much health info there is out there.
I used to eat so poorly! like 25 years ago, we would eat donuts several times a week, chinese food, ( which we considered our healthiest meal because of the veggies in the fried rice and the chicken slathered in sweet and sour sauce... and we ate a lot of lunch meat and cheese sandwiches on white bread( again our "health food") along with low fat milk... But i never bought the sugary cereal for my kids or candy and chips and I really thought I was feeding them well! ( They were and are all thin) ... but I wasn't

Then I took a nutrition class and joined the food program and realized how bad all this was... so we started eating whole wheat bread, whole wheat total, canned veggies, and frozen regular veggies, whole chicken and turkey and ground turkey and very rarely hamburger ... not organic or anything and non fat milk

Then I joined this forum and read a lot of posts about nutrition and read Nanny de's posts about Food Inc. and watched this movie and king corn.
We started eating only organic food and fresh organic chicken from costco... (we do not have butchers where I live)

THEN my daughter MADE me watch forks over knives
::::::
This movie says that animal meat and milk causes cancer and milk can actually cause osteoporosis ...
So for the last week I have been doing the vegetarian thing but the one source of protein that I like and actually have time to cook is genetically modified ( tofu) and I am so confused and discouraged..
I will try the other foods that was suggested. it will take time to learn how to cook them and I am sure everything will be fine.
For an example of how I don't know what I am doing with beans etc.
I soaked the beans too long and there was foamy stuff all over the top and I had to dump them
::::::
I will keep trying and the point I am trying to make is... I am always learning and getting better! I didn't just watch a movie and make an extreme decision to be a vegetarian
Thanks guys

[My3cents]

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

bumping this because I am really wanting to know- thinking of modifying my diet in a few weeks and giving the old vegetarian lifestyle a try. I don't eat much meat anyway. I won't give up dairy and I should but I just love cheese and love ice cream even if it doesn't love me.

[My3cents]

another silly question, if you have a veg soup, what is the broth made up from if not a meat stalk? Usually a chicken or beef stalk is used?

[Unregistered]

another silly question, if you have a veg soup, what is the broth made up from if not a meat stalk? Usually a chicken or beef stalk is used?

Probably vegetable stock but read the label as there may be meat products in the soup if canned.

[Michelle]

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!

anatomy lesson! ::::::

Like the chicken wings with all the bones and cartilage?
or the drum sticks with those gross slimy worm looking vein things?
or the eggs with the little yellow yolk that would have been fertilized but wasn't? or how about that Thanksgiving turkey with those gizzards and heart etc.
I do not miss meat at all!!!

[Willow]

Since when do only animals identifiable anatomy??

http://www.geochembio.com/biology/organisms/tomato/

That you are grossed out by one living organisms anatomy and not anothers for whatever reason doesn't negate the fact that they both have identifiable parts that help them to survive.

[Willow]

Little wormy things - spaghetti squash?
Vein things - celery, romaine?
Hearts - artichokes?


Just sayin'

[Michelle]

Little wormy things - spaghetti squash?
Vein things - celery, romaine?
Hearts - artichokes?


Just sayin'

these food items don't have a mother or a face! Yup, I've been brainwashed!

Willow, have you ever watched Forks Over Knives?
It's on Netflix

[Willow]

these food items don't have a mother or a face! Yup, I've been brainwashed!

Willow, have you ever watched Forks Over Knives?
It's on Netflix

I don't watch biased trash like that.

The good Lord tells me to eat meat and science supports that I should in the form of the way my body was designed.

If someone came out with a video claiming grass causes cancer in cows I'd take the same stance. If biologically it's what's meant to be and you want to buck that have at er and more power to ya. But personally I think it's PETA driven dribble and I won't be drinkin that koolaid.


(There are male and female plants and parts of plants, how you sort out they have no mother is beyond me as new plant life doesn't just come from nowhere. As for the "face" bit I think that's a matter if perspective, as wonky as it sounds )

[Blackcat31]

these food items don't have a mother or a face! Yup, I've been brainwashed!

Willow, have you ever watched Forks Over Knives?
It's on Netflix

~Michelle

I HAVE watched Forks Over Knives....

and didn't get brainwashed at all. But I am not niave enough to believe that one 96 minute movie holds the key to healthy eating or all the answers to curing cancer etc.

The movie has some great examples, awesome stories and some charts, graphs and scientific data that FULLY supports a plant based diet....however, there is always two sides to every story...especially the part about Norwegian people suddenly being healthier when they stopped eating meat and meat by-products during the invasion of Hilter.

(there is SOOOO much of that story the movie didn't share.....evidence that little to none of that was entirely true)

A "Plant-Based diet" and/or a "Standard American" diet are NOT the only two ways in which a person can eat a healthy well balanced lifestyle.

This is a great critique/review of the movie and in it, the author breaks down the segments and shows you that the movie only showed you bits and pieces of a partial truth.

The article has TONS of evidence (and links) supporting her viewpoints.

If you have the time, make sure you read the comments as well as they also contains some really good information.

http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/09/22/forks-over-knives-is-the-science-legit-a-review-and-critique/

Here is another great review http://doingspeed.com/book-review/fo...ting-it-right/ of the movie in which this site says the movie is nothing more than a 90 minute infomercial supporting Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr. Here is a fantastic link to a truthful breakdown of their work http://rawfoodsos.com/the-china-study/




Now I am NOT saying that anything in the movie Forks Over Knives is or isn't truthful....I am only saying that for every single "fact" or "truth" that the movie presented, you can find an equal (and sometimes greater) "fact" or "truth" stating the exact opposite.

http://anthonycolpo.com/forks-over-knives-the-latest-vegan-nonsense-dissected-debunked-and-destroyed/

Look, I’m not saying you can’t be vegan and healthy, I am just saying that Forks Over Knives only shows you a small slice of truth along with a whole lot of useless info that is completely unsubstantiated.

The best thing you can do is to go see your own physician. Get a FULL medical work up. Talk with him/her about what YOU and YOUR body needs. Consult with a trained, educated and reputable nutritionist who knows what they are talking about. Learn about YOUR body, how the foods you choose to and choose not to put into your body effect your body, mood, mind and overall health.

We are all similar in make up but not at all the same....find what is right for YOU and YOU ONLY....whether that is a partial vegan, vegetarian, full vegan or just a little of this and a little of that kind of diet doesn't really matter. In the end all that matters is that you meant your bodies specific needs and requirements to be the healthiest YOU can be.

Educate yourself about you, not what works for others.

[Michelle]

Thank you Black cat.
This was very helpful and nice advice.
I will read all of this.
I think we all want to be healthy and there are so many ways to do it.
I am definitely not veegan.
I got kinda excited but scared when I lost 5 lbs in a day yesterday ..so I think this is too extreme and I will eat more calories now.

[SilverSabre25]

Thank you Black cat.
This was very helpful and nice advice.
I will read all of this.
I think we all want to be healthy and there are so many ways to do it.
I am definitely not veegan.
I got kinda excited but scared when I lost 5 lbs in a day yesterday ..so I think this is too extreme and I will eat more calories now.

It definitely sounds like more calories might be in order, but it sounds like your scale might be wonky too. 5 pounds in one day maens a deficit of 15,000 calories unless you were really eating that poorly before, or really holding that much water weight, i doubt that's accurate. There are other things that can affect your weight, too--like if you were actually chronically constipated and didn't know it and that's passing now...but 5 lbs is still very extreme.

Test your scale--weigh yourself at least three times in close succession. if the weight is consistent each time, your scale is precise (means takes the same measurement each time). If it varies at all, it's imprecise and you need a different/better scale. Or put it in a different/better spot. It should be on a solid surface, not carpet, and ideally should be somewhere it doesn't get moved often or ever.

I'm willing to be your scale is a problem.