The Reluctant Vegan

Each to their own but it's laughable to suggest that from a health perspective a vegan/vegetarian diet is superior to a meat-eating one.

Evidence, my friend. They have actually turned cancer on and off by introducing and taking away meat protein. Plus there is the clogging of the arteries and the cholesteral levels and ... well ... watch "Forks Over Knives" and then draw your own conclusion.

Of course, I type all this wishing I could dive head first into a bowl of hot chicken wings!

I will actually watch it with an open mind, and then share my views.

But please read "The Vegetarian Myth" by Lierre Keith. I believe it will save you from making mistakes and damaging your health. (Message me if you can't find it).

Please do. There are some parts of the film where it clearly shows the advantages of a plant-based diet (comparing Japans 14 cases of prostate cancer to the U.S.'s 14,000!) ... plus there is the whole erectile dysfunction part that keeps me going! I am living 100% drug-free and plan to do so well into my 90s! ;-)

I will look for the book! Thanks for the recommendation.

While I agree that vegetables and fruits are a good basis for a diet, I don't see how comparing the Japanese with Americans proves that vegan is the way to go.

Very enjoyable read! Thank you for posting. I will hope that your wife loses her taste for cheese completely!

Thank you for sharing this, I love it!! I think it's a remarkable change that you've made and you have certainly reaped the benefits thus far. I concur with my fellow responders in saying that I hope that your wife loses her taste for cheese as well

Each to their own but it's laughable to suggest that from a health perspective a vegan/vegetarian diet is superior to a meat-eating one.

Evidence, my friend. They have actually turned cancer on and off by introducing and taking away meat protein. Plus there is the clogging of the arteries and the cholesteral levels and ... well ... watch "Forks Over Knives" and then draw your own conclusion.

Of course, I type all this wishing I could dive head first into a bowl of hot chicken wings!

I will actually watch it with an open mind, and then share my views.

But please read "The Vegetarian Myth" by Lierre Keith. I believe it will save you from making mistakes and damaging your health. (Message me if you can't find it).

Edit: On further reflection, I am withdrawing my original comment about 'The Vegetarian Myth.' I want this thread to keep going in the lighthearted way it started. We can bring all sorts of information into this thread, either refuting or upholding the vegan diet, but I really want the OP to get credit for an interesting and inspiring essay on his experience. Thank you, Reluctant Vegan!

I loved the OP's story. It was well-written, funny and inspiring, and it's wonderful to hear success stories. Thank you!

I hope this thread doesn't devolve into a debate of vegan/vegetarian versus meat-eaters. This post was too great for that.

What I find interesting is that the OP DID NOT replace his meat/eggs/butter with candy, mountains of pasta, and processed soylent green. When in Minnesota, he could have had a big bowl of glutinous spaghetti at the steak house, but because he's gluten-free also, he didn't. He had a colorful (yet, bland) salad.

He could have snarfed down huge bowls of fruit loops while his buddies carb-loaded on that lumberjack special, but instead he had oatmeal. To me, regardless of whether he was vegetarian, vegan, or omnivorous... his healthy (albeit reluctant) choices were the key to success.

Was it the meat that was raising his LDL before? Well, maybe, but also maybe because it was eaten along with whatever else he wanted and as much as he wanted. Our OP did not just eliminate meat/eggs/dairy, he has also eliminated gluten, and is eating in a healthy way.

My sister eats a "plant-based diet". She has swooned over Forks Over Knives and the China Study, so I've heard it. I've engaged in crazy texting debates about it. I also eat a plant-based diet minus the grains and legumes, along with meat and healthy fats. I have watched the movie too. I also read the detailed critiques of the movie and the debunking of the China Study. http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/ Too bad the correlations espoused by the study/movie are tenuous, but I'm not surprised. It's so hard to study pesky humans! And really, does it matter? If the movie gets people to eat in a more healthful way and stop supporting CAFOs... that's great.

Eat meat or don't. Drink milk or don't. What matters is that we get healthier, and support great stories of success like this one.

Now all you paleo/primal/vegan/vegetarian/pescatarian/ketosis-loving people... go eat a salad! Top if with steak. And bleu cheese. Or not.

Hello all,

I was a vegetarian for 3 years, but introduced beef in my diet two months ago. The reason being, I got really sick and was told that I would have to include red meat in my diet. I do not enjoy the taste and get extremely depressed and sad when eating it because I know of what the animal must have gone through. Would love to cut meat completely out of my diet, but I'm scared of getting sick again. Has this happened to anyone else?

Sry can you take iron pills?

Hello all,

I was a vegetarian for 3 years, but introduced beef in my diet two months ago. The reason being, I got really sick and was told that I would have to include red meat in my diet. I do not enjoy the taste and get extremely depressed and sad when eating it because I know of what the animal must have gone through. Would love to cut meat completely out of my diet, but I'm scared of getting sick again. Has this happened to anyone else?

It happened to me and looking back I really think starting up with meat again caused more problems. I have cut all red meat out again recently. It makes me sick and it's also hard to eat it when I have cows in front of my house. I look at them being sweet and happy and a hamburger seems very selfish and mean to me. I have been chicken though so I'm a hypocrite.

When I started getting sick with all my stuff the first doctor I saw told me to start eating meat again because I was so anemic. Every doctor since then has told me it probably made me worse. I guess it all depends on what is wrong with you.

When I went vegan years ago it had nothing to do with health. I'm older now and health is more important to me so I'm going to try to work my way back into it.