Part time vegan?

HeliumIsNoble

Oh good grief. Have you never met a real life vegan before, @annacole94? Or are you just spoiling for a proper fight on t'internet before the weekend? It's a hobby I suppose. Have you considered karate?

How about we dispense with the preliminaries and I just direct you here: https://www.vegansociety.com/about-us/history

annacole94

Yes, I know real live vegans. They are people who consume no animal products. They come over and eat at my house sometimes. Their kids eat pulled pork like they've discovered the promised land.

It's just words, is my point. There's no need to shame a teen for expressing her diet perfectly clearly.

HeliumIsNoble

At this point, we're not shaming a teen. We're poking fun at a guy who wrote a diet book. Very different kettle of fish.

Nice jibe at the kids of vegans though. Very artful.

VintageFeline

annacole94 wrote: »

Yes, I know real live vegans. They are people who consume no animal products. They come over and eat at my house sometimes. Their kids eat pulled pork like they've discovered the promised land.

It's just words, is my point. There's no need to shame a teen for expressing her diet perfectly clearly.

It's more than not consuming animal products. It's not using anything that may be produced at the expense of an animals welfare or life. It's not just a dietary choice. Is there a modern fad for going vegan without understanding that? Sure. But to call yourself vegan in any context when you both eat and use animal products and byproducts is just ridiculous and pointless (and undoubtedly a cynical marketing ploy to sell books).

An no, I'm not vegan, I have no axe to grind there.

RaeBeeBaby

A few people have mentioned soy as a protein source for a vegan diet. I would suggest a bit of caution on making soy a major part of a vegan or vegetarian diet, especially for women. There are both fans and critics of eating eating soy and soy based products. Many people believe it is greatly beneficial, while others do not. Nutrition experts have published a lot about the benefits vs detriments and it appears the jury is still out.

Not to hijack this thread with a discussion about GMOs, but the majority (about 90%) of soybeans grown in the US are Round-up ready genetically modified so that is one issue to consider. Soybeans also contain phytoestrogens which can interfere with the normal hormone functions in the body, especially estrogen in women. Having had cancer, my family physician and oncologist have both advised me to avoid all soy containing products, especially soybean oil. If I could go back in time to my young womanhood I would have avoided it just as a precaution, but who knew? Soybean oil is in just about all processed foods, so I read a lot of labels these days. Fast-food restaurants also use it prolifically to make their food nice and juicy.

While a lot of people feel that soy is a great alternative protein source, if this is a large part of your meat-free diet, I'd simply suggest you do some research on it.

izzie218

Just to let you guys know I've discovered that having a big dose of healthy fat with meals COMPLETELY stops the bloating. My favorite is avocado and I also really like hummus, peanut butter, and hazelnuts. But I'm really starting to love the vegan lifestyle! I feel great, my hair is growing super fast, and I just feel healthier and happy in general.

Again thanks for the feedback!

janejellyroll

RaeBeeBaby wrote: »

A few people have mentioned soy as a protein source for a vegan diet. I would suggest a bit of caution on making soy a major part of a vegan or vegetarian diet, especially for women. There are both fans and critics of eating eating soy and soy based products. Many people believe it is greatly beneficial, while others do not. Nutrition experts have published a lot about the benefits vs detriments and it appears the jury is still out.

Not to hijack this thread with a discussion about GMOs, but the majority (about 90%) of soybeans grown in the US are Round-up ready genetically modified so that is one issue to consider. Soybeans also contain phytoestrogens which can interfere with the normal hormone functions in the body, especially estrogen in women. Having had cancer, my family physician and oncologist have both advised me to avoid all soy containing products, especially soybean oil. If I could go back in time to my young womanhood I would have avoided it just as a precaution, but who knew? Soybean oil is in just about all processed foods, so I read a lot of labels these days. Fast-food restaurants also use it prolifically to make their food nice and juicy.

While a lot of people feel that soy is a great alternative protein source, if this is a large part of your meat-free diet, I'd simply suggest you do some research on it.

I understand you have a medical history that indicates consuming soy may not be a good idea for you, but what is the research indicating it is a bad protein source for the general population? And I'm not sure why one should avoid it as a protein source if soybean oil is the food that should especially be avoided (a food, by the way, that is probably consumed as much -- if not more -- by non-vegans than vegans).

Soy is one of the most studied foods out there and if it did interfere with hormone production, there should be abundant evidence of that.