going vegetarian in 2013

Rhumax67

I'm vegan about 95% of the time. Just switched a few months ago. It wasn't hard to change. The good part is if you are doing it for ethical or environmental reasons-every little bit helps. The 5% comes when I eat at someone's home or restaurant. I try not to be a pain in the a** when I'm out or cooking for company. DH, who is not a vegan eats my dinners at least 4X a week--I still cook meat for him the rest of the time. But I have to say I'm starting to find animal products a little disgusting. There's a lot of junk food that's actually vegan, so you have to be careful diet wise.

Taem2

When chicks hatch, they say about half are male, half are female. Because "layer" chickens can only be female, the egg company "throws" away the male chicks. They don't sell or do anything with the male chicks.

So, your demand for eggs forces the egg companies to separate the female chicks and kill the male ones.

I am sorry that you don't want that "curtain" opened for you.

i only eat eggs from a friend who keeps a few chickens. so, am i going to die or not?

quotes Sarauk2sf but copy and pasted the whole abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7124663

Am J Clin Nutr. 1982 Oct;36(4):617-25.
Eggs, serum cholesterol, and coronary heart disease.
Dawber TR, Nickerson RJ, Brand FN, Pool J.
Abstract

The Framingham Study has investigated the effect of host and environmental factors on the development of coronary heart disease since 1949. Serum cholesterol level was determined to the one of the risk factors for coronary heart disease. The nutrient intake, in a subsample of the study population, was determined in 1957. A review of this material has permitted an estimate of egg consumption on each of 912 subjects. The serum cholesterol distribution curves of the subjects according to tertile of egg intake were almost identical, and no relationship between egg intake and coronary heart disease incidence was found. It is concluded that within the range of egg intake of this population differences in egg consumption were unrelated to blood cholesterol level or to coronary heart disease incidence.

The Framingham Study is of interest, so I did some more digging and here is what I found.

http://www.prescription2000.com/Interview-Transcripts/2011-02-18-william-castelli-heart-disease-lipids-transcript.html

I am quoting from a portion, you can read it all, that's fine.

KIRK HAMILTON: Let's say you had no medication and you could get everybody behaviorally to do everything you exactly wanted them to do by diet, the average American. How would you reverse the heart disease epidemic by diet?

DR. WILLIAM CASTELLI: I would. I would do it and it would work better than the drugs. And I can show you all of the reversibility trials and they were mostly drug trials.

KIRK HAMILTON: But what would the diet be if you didn't have drugs and you could get everybody to do exactly what you wanted diet-wise in the United States? How would you reverse the heart disease?

DR. WILLIAM CASTELLI: Well you'd have them on a pure vegetarian diet and not getting fat on the vegetarian diet....

KIRK HAMILTON: Well let me ask you, because you can say vegetarian diet and that can mean anything from a white flour vegetarian diet to you know a very -

DR. WILLIAM CASTELLI: It would have to be a whole grain -

--end quote



Dr. William Castelli is the Medical Director of the Framingham Cardiovascular Institute, so his interview is relevant. Now that you know that he advocates for a low fat diet, pure vegetarian diet, not XX-vegetarian, a pure one.

If you heard of Jim Fixx, he was considered Mr. Runner as he popularized jogging in America. He, unlike doctors that promote a low fat diet stated that as long as you exercise, you can eat anything. Well he died of a heart attack. This is general knowledge so you can google this.

I am going to quote Jeff Novick, who responded in a similar health board with his response.

"Exercise can lower cholesterol, both LDL and Total and raise HDL. However, the impact is minimal and mostly on HDL. "

Meaning, you can eat eggs, and work your butt off, but you are still raising your chances for heart disease and stroke.

Oh, and to answer your question, seriously. Which part of the many urls have I shown that of farmers that raise chickens in the open? Have I not asked people to look at how egg companies (not farmers) produce eggs? I guess you are just wanting to cause trouble by interrupting the discussion with a question that doesn't even apply.

Thanks for your input. Finishing off my run!

MissSusieQ

When chicks hatch, they say about half are male, half are female. Because "layer" chickens can only be female, the egg company "throws" away the male chicks. They don't sell or do anything with the male chicks.

So, your demand for eggs forces the egg companies to separate the female chicks and kill the male ones.

I am sorry that you don't want that "curtain" opened for you.

i only eat eggs from a friend who keeps a few chickens. so, am i going to die or not?

quotes Sarauk2sf but copy and pasted the whole abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7124663

Am J Clin Nutr. 1982 Oct;36(4):617-25.
Eggs, serum cholesterol, and coronary heart disease.
Dawber TR, Nickerson RJ, Brand FN, Pool J.
Abstract

The Framingham Study has investigated the effect of host and environmental factors on the development of coronary heart disease since 1949. Serum cholesterol level was determined to the one of the risk factors for coronary heart disease. The nutrient intake, in a subsample of the study population, was determined in 1957. A review of this material has permitted an estimate of egg consumption on each of 912 subjects. The serum cholesterol distribution curves of the subjects according to tertile of egg intake were almost identical, and no relationship between egg intake and coronary heart disease incidence was found. It is concluded that within the range of egg intake of this population differences in egg consumption were unrelated to blood cholesterol level or to coronary heart disease incidence.

The Framingham Study is of interest, so I did some more digging and here is what I found.

http://www.prescription2000.com/Interview-Transcripts/2011-02-18-william-castelli-heart-disease-lipids-transcript.html

I am quoting from a portion, you can read it all, that's fine.

KIRK HAMILTON: Let's say you had no medication and you could get everybody behaviorally to do everything you exactly wanted them to do by diet, the average American. How would you reverse the heart disease epidemic by diet?

DR. WILLIAM CASTELLI: I would. I would do it and it would work better than the drugs. And I can show you all of the reversibility trials and they were mostly drug trials.

KIRK HAMILTON: But what would the diet be if you didn't have drugs and you could get everybody to do exactly what you wanted diet-wise in the United States? How would you reverse the heart disease?

DR. WILLIAM CASTELLI: Well you'd have them on a pure vegetarian diet and not getting fat on the vegetarian diet....

KIRK HAMILTON: Well let me ask you, because you can say vegetarian diet and that can mean anything from a white flour vegetarian diet to you know a very -

DR. WILLIAM CASTELLI: It would have to be a whole grain -

--end quote



Dr. William Castelli is the Medical Director of the Framingham Cardiovascular Institute, so his interview is relevant. Now that you know that he advocates for a low fat diet, pure vegetarian diet, not XX-vegetarian, a pure one.

If you heard of Jim Fixx, he was considered Mr. Runner as he popularized jogging in America. He, unlike doctors that promote a low fat diet stated that as long as you exercise, you can eat anything. Well he died of a heart attack. This is general knowledge so you can google this.

I am going to quote Jeff Novick, who responded in a similar health board with his response.

"Exercise can lower cholesterol, both LDL and Total and raise HDL. However, the impact is minimal and mostly on HDL. "

Meaning, you can eat eggs, and work your butt off, but you are still raising your chances for heart disease and stroke.

Oh, and to answer your question, seriously. Which part of the many urls have I shown that of farmers that raise chickens in the open? Have I not asked people to look at how egg companies (not farmers) produce eggs? I guess you are just wanting to cause trouble by interrupting the discussion with a question that doesn't even apply.

Thanks for your input. Finishing off my run!

a simple 'yes' would suffice.

Sarauk2sf

a simple 'yes' would suffice.

Yes, but he would not have been able to cherry pick and quote me out of context then and also add someone's opinion that matched his own.

carolinelittle

I've been one my whole life so I know no different. Just wouldn't eat meat as a baby, only one in my family.

GemaG

i've been vegetarian for 5 years now and im 18. there is only one word to say...QUORN, this is worlds best meat substitute, you can have all the meals you used to have but with quorn products (mince, sausages, fillets, nuggets etc) instead. i dont miss meat at all, plus quorn is lower is caloris and fat! goodluck!!

I ve been veggie since I was 13 ( a long time ago) and yes quorn is answer!!

kyrstenwallace

My partner, my kids and myself have been veggie for 8 years, we have gone back and fourth between vegetarian/vegan. We made the move for ethical reasons and never looked back. Research is the biggest thing for me, even now there are things I am still finding out. Good luck :-)

littlecrystal

Do we actually need to decide a cut off point « from now I am going to be vegetarian ? » Last year I decided to eat much less meat, especially red meat, because 1) I want to make a change environmentally 2) my belief is that the mass meat produce with all the hormones can do more harm than good. So it is better having a small piece of organic meat than a large hormone-laden steak or a tasteless chicken. I went from having meat every day (including various hams for protein snack while at work) to having 1-2 times per week, although I had few weeks without meat at all without even noticing.

I still eat fish – I don’t think it is affecting environment as much as growing meat (or does it?).

After my meat-less time I notice that the more you eat meat, the more you become meat-addict – it does not look any different from sweet-addict or alcohol-addict.
Also meat makes my stomach used to feeling “heavy”, and then I only feel satisfied after eating meat because nothing else feels as heavy – not the feeling I am looking for.

But I do not want to label myself and do black or white only, so I will never “decide” to be vegetarian, but eating more vegetarian is definitely a good thing.

Good luck to all!

rml_16

I'm seriously considering going vegetarian. It would really help me lose weight,

Not necessarily. You can still eat potato chips and things like Little Debbie snack cakes and French fries from anywhere but McDonalds and pasta and cheese.

Heck, I know strict vegans who are overweight. I was much thinner when I ate meat than I have been since going veg.

By all means, go veg if you want to, but you still have to count calories and exercise and make sure you're eating a healthy, balanced diet.

Taem2

a simple 'yes' would suffice.

Yes, but he would not have been able to cherry pick and quote me out of context then and also add someone's opinion that matched his own.

I am not cherry picking, I am reading what you posted.

cheshirequeen

vegan for 8 years. if you need any help or guidance, feel free to friend me. good luck.

Taem2

I'm seriously considering going vegetarian. It would really help me lose weight,

Not necessarily. You can still eat potato chips and things like Little Debbie snack cakes and French fries from anywhere but McDonalds and pasta and cheese.

Heck, I know strict vegans who are overweight. I was much thinner when I ate meat than I have been since going veg.

By all means, go veg if you want to, but you still have to count calories and exercise and make sure you're eating a healthy, balanced diet.

Being or becoming a vegetarian or vegan means eating 10% or less of fat from calories, because foods like starches and veggies and fruit average out to about 7% fat intake.

Eating foods rich in calories like honey and high in fat such as nuts and avocados are tolerated in moderation and considered a treat.

Eating processed foods, regardless of them being vegan or vegetarian is still to be avoided as it is rich in sodium and artificial ingredients.

If you learn what it means to eat healthy, you can achieve it.

But telling people there are unhealthy vegetarians and that you were better when eating meat, is not helping anyone in this thread.

szarlotka717

I started eating less and less meat starting when I was about 6. I've been pretty much fully vegetarian for about 15 years (currently 27).

OP - I think it's great that you're starting to go veggie while on MFP. While I don't think eating vegetarian ever made me terribly unhealthy, when I started tracking on MFP I realized that I wasn't getting quite enough protein, B vitamins, iron, calcium, and Omega-3's (at least, not when I was also trying to lose some weight). I've starting taking some supplements - a multivitamin and something for Omega-3's - to make it a little easier. I'm also at the point in my life when my husband and I are thinking about kids, so making sure that I'm eating well has become more of a priority.

I highly recommend Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian cookbook. There are lots of great ideas there.

For people who are concerned about the ethics around the meat industry but are having a hard time giving up meat entirely - there are some more ethical producers out there. My husband (who eats meat) and I belonged to a meat CSA in the Bay Area called Marin Sun Farms. They treat their animals well, and I think it's good to promote more sustainable/ethical practices (I think expecting the whole world to become vegetarian soon is not very realistic). As for fish, fishing CSAs that catch safe, local fish in a sustainable manner are also becoming more popular. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a lot of great resources on their website.

SteveJWatson

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In order to make gelatin, one must actually kill an animal. No animal dies in order for me to eat an egg. I am vegetarian not for health reasons, but because I don't want to eat dead animals, which is the reason stated by the OP. Therefore, my advice was accurate and appropriate.

I guess you didn't want to see that in order to get female chickens, the male baby chick is killed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN5H9audCRQ

So, yes, you are killing animals for eggs.

You mean you have to sacrifice a male chicken in order for a female chicken to exist? because that is what you just said.

Yes, the egg companies won't even sell the male baby chicks because there is no profit, they just kill them and throw the baby chicks away.

Here is another video, by the vegetarian society of Hawaii, a presentation dealing with eggs and dairy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyjOPzKc4vA

But it is not necessary to kill a chicken (male or female) to produce an egg. That may be the practice of factory farms, but the process of laying an egg does not include the death of any animal.

Don't eat eggs if you don't want to eat eggs. That is your business. But claiming that eating eggs makes people unhealthy or insisting that an animal died in order for an egg to exist (not the case. An egg can exist without an animal's death) makes you look ridiculous.

Just as a by-the-by:

All laying units will gas male chicks - using a sex-linked breed will make male chicks a different coulor to females.
Laying hens - whether battery, free-range or organic will lay for a season and then their production drops, so they will be replaced by the next generation - the hens will then be slaughtered. Some organics are using dual-purpose breeds so the hens will be slaughtered for human consumption, the rest will end up as dogfood - there is no meat per se on the breast of a laying hen - I know this, I have hens and when mine go off lay (they generally last some years though) they go in the dog.

The dairy industry routienely shoots male dairy carves (most dairy cows are put to a beef bull for most lactations, they will go to a dairy bull to produce replacements) - sadly the demand for veal because of the (very understandable) objection to crate veal is almost nil.

I am a livestock farmer by profession (sheep, as it goes), and as such - I have nothing against eating meat, and I long ago made my peace with death - in fact, I think a quick and painless death is one of the better things any animal (myself included) can hope for.

But, for the sake of wanting people to be informed - the only diet where you do not cause death is a vegan one.