Food for thought, watch Cowspiracy, Forks over Knives then "What the Health?" Houston has a wonderful doctor, Dr. Garth Davis who wrote the book Proteinaholic which I recommend as well.
So, I just watched What the Health on Netflix and now I'm cutting out meat and dairy. I'm not a big dairy guy anyway, but I'm a big chicken eater. Let's see how this goes.
I'm mostly vegetarian. I eat meat once a week or once a month just to remind my body how to digest it. I don't want to get stuck like @Batman Jones and not be able to return. I don't think eating meat is sustainable going forward with our huge population on this earth. So, cutting back big time was my goal. It worked. Lost weight as a byproduct. Glad I did it. I feel lighter all the time and full of more vitamins than I normally am. It's been extremely easy (being a non-strict vegetarian) and still probably makes a difference. I think of it as the middle path. Oh yeah, it saves money too. When you're eating meat (at most) once a week, eating suddenly costs a lot less.
last year for lent I became a vegetarian for 40 days and felt a big difference from not having GI issues and more energy. I currently cut out dairy, candy and slowly beef. I tend to crave for steak sometimes. I would meal prep 2 vegetarian days of the week.
I was vegetarian for a lot of years. I forget how many. I think 4-5. It was ethical reasons for me I stopped 6 months ago because I cant cook and ended up just snacking on potato chips all day. I say that to see this: when i ate red meat again, i tried a big thickazz steak. It wasnt pretty. Abdominal pain and bloating for days, intense constipation, headaches. I went to the emergency room thinking my balls were falling off from a testicular torsion or something. It hurt so bad across that the entire groin area. After running tests, the dr said I was just INCREDIBLY backed up with undigested food and He deduced that it was because I ate steak after 5 years of not eating it ha. I had to take legit laxatives. my diet is now close to yours. Im not a strict vegetarian but Im comfortable with not eating meat for days or week at a time.
Turning 25 soon, watched what the health, and read the China Study, so I've decided to give the vegan lifestyle a try after July 4th. I have too many friends with extremely positive testimonials, and too many naysayers who present misinformation and don't know anything about what they put into their own body. Any advice for a newbie so I don't mess up the start of my journey?
Just put some ground venison in the fridge to defrost. Making tomato sauce and meatballs tonight. Guns and gardens FTW.
We have some good friends we need to have over for dinner. The guy is mostly vegetarian, but slams down steaks or BBQ once a month with his son for lunch. His wife makes sure to be busy when he does. Anyway, the wife is vegan and we've been trying to figure out what to feed them that entirely vegan. Those look like a possibility, so thanks!
Not sure they're available in stores, but Hopdoddy has the Impossible Burger now. It's not bad, not as good as a real burger, but not bad.
Thanks! I think Whole Foods has the "Beyond Meat" stuff, which I guess I'll try to see if I think it's eatable. I'm omnivorous, myself. What's weird is that it doesn't seem to matter what I eat as far as my weight is concerned. I've weighed within 3 pounds of my present weight for many years. My partner says it drives her nuts. I realize that just because what I eat seems to have no impact my weight, it has nothing to do with my overall health. I take statins for insanely high Lipids, which keeps them normal, but statins aren't really good for you, either. If I stop taking the statins and are on a good diet (low fat, etc., lots of veggies), they shoot up immediately. I'm talking crazy high. It's an inherited genetic condition from my late father (thanks, Dad!). Over 600 cholesterol and over 1200 triglycerides. Like I said, crazy high. Lipitor works wonders in that regard, 40mg a day.
There are a lot of critiques of the China Study out there, wouldn't recommend making my decision on diet based on that. Minger's work is recognized to be well done. fwiw. https://deniseminger.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/
What the Health has me sidelining as a vegan/vegetarian during the week. I'm trying to cut out 50% of my meat intake. It's going to take a lot to get me to give up seafood though - no plans to cut that out anytime soon.
Again, I'm not trying to bash vegans or vegetarianism, but I would not use What the Health as a basis for a dramatic dietary shift. This review is on the snarky side, but the critique it makes is genuine.
I've been doing a low carb, high fat diet for a few years now. I'm 6'3 and 175 lbs (28 years old). I eat meat, dairy, veggies and nuts primarily. Just talked to my doctor about my blood work last week. He said kidneys, thyroid, etc. are perfect. I'm one of very few people he's seen who's Vitamin D and B12 are within the "normal" range. Fasting blood sugar was amazing. And he said if he was a betting man, he'd bet that I'll never have cholesterol problems in my life. Keep in mind, I eat red meat and eggs on a daily basis. You'd have a hard time convincing me that meat and dairy are the problem. To me, I think it's processed food and sugar. Also, just to make sure this isn't taken as I'm genetically gifted...my parents take medicine for cholesterol problems and in high school, when I ate a "normal" diet, I was about 240 lbs.
I was on a very similar diet for several months at one point, maybe a year, and it did help lower my lipids and my blood sugar, which was on the high side of normal (I love a good malt, ice cream and Scottish!). No question that it helps people who want to lose weight. I didn't need to, but lost a few pounds, regardless. It's very difficult to stay on, long term. I'm part Irish and freakin' LOVE potatoes, cooked any way you like, except raw. More than damn near anything except fresh redfish, fresh Gulf shrimp, a great steak, and one or two things I'm forgetting. Dammit, now I'm hungry!
I guess it depends who you are. I'll be fine if I never eat another potato. I always thought of rice, pasta or a tortilla almost as a holder for all of the good stuff. I got some high quality, high fiber bread and some high quality ice cream for the times when I do need them. I rarely eat over 60 carbs in a day.