Who here is a strict vegetarian?

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Geminieve24
Geminieve24 Posts: 364 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey there gang!
So I am writing a research paper on the harmful effects of eating meat. I was wondering if anyone out there has made the life style change to be a vegan or vegetarian? How has eliminating meat from your diet benefited you? Everything from weight loss/management, your digestive system, overall health, stamina, etc? I am thinking about making the switch and would love some feedback. I plan to go organic, eat mostly fruits, veggies, tofu/soy based products, etc. Let me know! I have picked up the book Skinny ***** and I LOVE IT!
Thanks!
Alicia
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Replies

  • jenricher
    jenricher Posts: 32
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    meat is wonderful. i think your that is a terrible topic. meat is natural and good for you. i understand being a veg. bc of the harm to animals but not because meat is no good for you and unhealthy
  • ellisonn
    ellisonn Posts: 2 Member
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    I became a vegetarian about a year ago, tried vegan for a few months, but found it a little hard to maintain with my lifestyle. Another great book to read is The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone. There is a lot of great information in there that can help you with your research and help you decide if vegetarianism/vegan is right for you. Good luck!
  • gioiapp
    gioiapp Posts: 1
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    I was a strict vegetarian for 2.5 years, I gained so much weight, at first, because I started eating a lot of carbs and I was always hungry so I ate huge amounts. Probaly because I used to eat some lean meat and lots of vegetables and a little bit of carbs, not because of a diet but meat really fills me up. I was never overweight, but I almost came close. I recently started to eat some meat again and I lost 7lbs in 2 weeks because I have my old eating habits back. (I do exercise a lot ). I don't eat it every day but organic lean meat is really good.
  • mjd0109
    mjd0109 Posts: 152
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    I'm a strict vegetarian, nothing with a face for me! Honestly, after I stopped eating meat I had more energy and I enjoyed what I ate so much more. I noticed I even kind of like "happy dance"when I eat (its just like a bounce lol I feel like a child) but I'm just so much happier.

    I think that the debate over whether or not meat is good for you could last forever, however, I think that across the board people acknowledge that meat is extremely over eaten. Meat is not necessary three times a day and especially in the portion sizes in which they are served. Also, if meat is being eaten it should be organic. The trauma, growth hormones, and antibiotics that are forced into the animals is not safe for humans. What the animals eat and the stress they endure is in the meat that is eaten.

    Consider this, expectant mothers are discouraged from smoking, drinking, and stressful environments because it is harmful for the baby, don't you think the same is true for chickens producing eggs?

    A little tip, just because something says free range doesn't mean that the animal lived a happy life on a field of grass. The only requirement for "free range" is an opening outdoors, that could mean one small hole in the wall for 1000 animals to fight over and that may just lead to a concrete slab. If youre looking for organic, free range foods make sure to look for the usda seal.
  • aschr690
    aschr690 Posts: 41 Member
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    Hello! I have been vegetarian for about a year and a half and it is honestly one of the best decisions I have ever made! Making the switch was so much easier than I anticipated, and there are so many meat alternatives out there you don't even notice you have cut something out of your diet. The most difficult part is dealing with people's ignorance on the topic. Everybody considers themselves an expert and will recite to you how abstaining from meat is unhealthy, but it's not! Any nutritionist will tell you, you can live a healthy lifestyle sans meat. As far as the food pyramid goes, that is being distributed by the National Dairy Council and USDA, the two largest, most powerful companies, who profit from the animal industry. I highly highly highly recommend reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. It is filled with really interesting information! Also some harmful effects of meat are the hormones and anti-biotics used to sustain the animals which are raised in such horrible conditions they cannot survive without them. It's hard to go through all the facts, but if you are interested in becoming vegetarian definitely read that book :) Also www.goveg.com. If you have any questions feel free to message/add me!
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
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    I am not a strict vegetarian as I will eat foods prepared with Chicken broth, a tad bit of bacon sprinkled in something doesn't ruin it for me (has to be amost burnt crispy though). I will eat fish. I would be what some call a pescatarian...basically what it boils down to is that I don't eat meat. I did lose a lot of weight at first as I found that the vegetarian choices I was making were just healthier as I started eating twice the veggies...however the overload on starches is very easy with no meat.

    I felt so much better after I stopped eating meat...Someone had mentioned to me a diet called the blood type diet....it said that A- like me do well on vegetarian diets http://www.dadamo.com/bloodtype_A.htm....so anyway...I didn't know about any of that when I stopped eating meat...I just always thought it was gross and I felt heavy when I was done eating. After reading this website I wondered if some people just do better with some diets than others because of reasons like our blood types etc.

    f you do stop eating meat do some research. Find out good sources of adequate protein. Make decisions that feel good to you...ie are you ok with eggs, cheese, foods prepared with meat...ie will you eat the veggies out of a stew...whatever decision you make give it a month..if it is right for you it will be easy and feel right...if it isn't then you will know by the end of a month
  • beethedreamer
    beethedreamer Posts: 465 Member
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    meat is wonderful. i think your that is a terrible topic. meat is natural and good for you. i understand being a veg. bc of the harm to animals but not because meat is no good for you and unhealthy

    I would just like to point out that not all meat is natural. animals are pumped full of hormones and other junk to make them taste better as well as increase the weight so they can be sold for more money. I am a vegetarian for two reasons: first because of the horrible treatment of animals and secondly because I don't want to consume the crap that they pump the animals full of.

    that being said I WOULD eat meat if it came from a local reliable source that did not mistreat the animals and only fed them what nature intended them to eat. but because that kind of meat is super expensive I don't buy it, and the majority of society doesn't either.
  • amylrach
    amylrach Posts: 30 Member
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    I eat vegetarian 90% of the time. Over the holidays I did slip into eating turkey/chicken again. In doing so I noticed that I didn't have as much energy and I tend to have digestive problems when I eat meat. When I eat vegetarian I just feel so much more energetic, light and healthy. For me, that's proof all in itself that meat isn't healthy and your body doesn't need it. All that our bodies were designed to need was what grew in the Garden of Eden. That's my two cents. :)
  • roylawrence87
    roylawrence87 Posts: 970 Member
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    Veg head here! Feel free to use my before and in progress pics to put your research into stone. I can tell you that it propelled my weight loss a great deal. I feel better. My digestive system is like clockwork. Not sickly. I can breathe better. Body odor is almost non existent. No common ailments. Blood pressure, cholesterol, and BMI have consistently went down. So yea, It is the most amazing thing I have done. Screw whoever said you are supposed to eat meat. If that were the case, I would die from eating too many veggies.
  • sarahtiano
    sarahtiano Posts: 78 Member
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    Humans survived for years without the flesh of another animal. Eating meat is unnatural.
  • hannahncakes
    hannahncakes Posts: 97
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    I have been a vegetarian all my life & I am perfectly healthy. It is not at all unnatural & it is what KIND of food you put into your body (be it meat or vegetarian) that effects your health & weight not whether or not you eat meat.
  • Geminieve24
    Geminieve24 Posts: 364 Member
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    Wow thanks everyone! I am finding a lot of academic research showing how eating meat in the 21st century is in direct correlation to various forms of cancer, digestive problems and obesity. Did you all know half of the antibiotics administered in the US are administered to farm animals? And we digest this. Also a study was conducted at Berkley linking beef to Urinary Tract Infections. And did you know Urinary tract Infections is the most commonly infectious disease for women. We also lack the necessary digestive enzyme to break down animal products. Our stomachs also do not secrete enough hydrochloric acid to break down meat, unlike a carnivore which has ten times amount than we do, since their bodies were designed to break down the proteins from meat. So much more information I am finding!
  • Geminieve24
    Geminieve24 Posts: 364 Member
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    roylawrence87: Thanks for your insight! I will definitely check out your profile!
  • anovasjo
    anovasjo Posts: 382 Member
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    Hi Geminieve,
    You should read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. The back of the book is dedicated to references he makes in the book, and there's lots and lots of credible research for you to pick from.

    I've been a vegan for four years (vegetarian beforehand) and I'm never looking back.
  • VegGrrl
    VegGrrl Posts: 336 Member
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    meat is wonderful. i think your that is a terrible topic. meat is natural and good for you. i understand being a veg. bc of the harm to animals but not because meat is no good for you and unhealthy


    Read "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell, or any books by Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. John McDougall, or John Robbins. That will answer all your questions about why meat is bad for your health (not to mention bad for the planet).

    I've been vegan for 8 years and vegetarian long before that. I'm 46 and I don't think it's a coincidence that every day people my age that I know are having all types of health issues (blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, cancer) that I have never had even though I'm about 40 lbs. overweight. And I never, ever get constipated! :wink:
  • jenricher
    jenricher Posts: 32
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    I would just like to point out that not all meat is natural. animals are pumped full of hormones and other junk to make them taste better as well as increase the weight so they can be sold for more money. I am a vegetarian for two reasons: first because of the horrible treatment of animals and secondly because I don't want to consume the crap that they pump the animals full of.

    that being said I WOULD eat meat if it came from a local reliable source that did not mistreat the animals and only fed them what nature intended them to eat. but because that kind of meat is super expensive I don't buy it, and the majority of society doesn't either.

    I am a rancher and you are getting lots of false information from the media. Yes there are places that treat animals poorly and have given all livestock farms a bad rep. 99% of places treat animals very well. also ralgrow is the crap your talking about that they pump them full of. It is not in there systems when they are butchered for one and is a very safe proven product.
  • smae1980
    smae1980 Posts: 794 Member
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    Basically it comes down to how YOU feel about eating meat. I've been vegetarian for 15 years and I get asked all the time if I'll ever eat meat agin and I can honestly say no. The idea that i'm eating the MUSCLE of a once living being is absolutely disgusting to me. I'm not one of those people who criticize others for their choice in the matter and I'm actually the only vegetarian in my family at home although my younger brother is also veg. Anyway, You could check out the documentary "Food Inc" which will give you insight on factory farming as well as other horrors of the food industry, but if you decide to eat meat, locally raised organic meats will always be your beat bet
  • Depplover28
    Depplover28 Posts: 87
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    I've been a strict vegetarian for almost 4 years. I do not eat red meat, chicken, or fish, basically nothing with a face! I don't understand how people can call themselves vegetarians and still eat fish. But anyway, once I made the change, I felt tired a LOT for mabe a month until my body got used to it. For a while I only ate carbs and lots of them! I'm sure I gained at least a few pounds. But once I started eating right, I felt so much better and energized all of the time. I can't imagine every eating meat again. Being a vegetarian isn't for everyone though. My vegetarian friend found out she was anemic and had to start eating meat again. Thank God I'm not anemic!
  • halobender
    halobender Posts: 780 Member
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    Humans survived for years without the flesh of another animal. Eating meat is unnatural.
    ... In "modern" civilizations they have ... but I guarantee you that cavemen all ate meat. That's extremely ignorant.

    The only thing more natural than eating meat is relieving yourself in the woods.

    The only unnatural aspect of eating meat is the way in which many of them are farmed. But as the rancher said, that's not always the case. (Although I'm still not really comfortable with the antibiotics being put into the livestock, whether it's supposed to be out of their system by the time it's made it to my plate or not.)

    Anyhow, neither eating a varied diet with meat, nor eating a vegetarian/vegan diet, is the only way to go and neither has to be unhealthy. It's all a matter of moderation and working with your body, understanding what it needs. I'm also not so ignorant as to think that my body needs exactly the same fuel as anyone else.
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
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    I've been a strict vegetarian for almost 4 years. I do not eat red meat, chicken, or fish, basically nothing with a face! I don't understand how people can call themselves vegetarians and still eat fish. But anyway, once I made the change, I felt tired a LOT for mabe a month until my body got used to it. For a while I only ate carbs and lots of them! I'm sure I gained at least a few pounds. But once I started eating right, I felt so much better and energized all of the time. I can't imagine every eating meat again. Being a vegetarian isn't for everyone though. My vegetarian friend found out she was anemic and had to start eating meat again. Thank God I'm not anemic!


    I mentioned above that some might call me a pescatarian....I think of myself as someone who mostly doesn't eat meat and haven't for 13 years...a non-strct vegetarian etc...I don't care what I am called because I am at peace with all my choices...some people choose to use a label however as it is easier to say "I am a vegetarian" than it is to explain you dietary choices to people. People get off my case for not eating their grilled flamed cheeseburger if I say I am a vegetarian. If I try to explain myself and my reasoning then I undoubtedly get the "if you ate a good steak you would love it" or " well you clearly haven't eaten one of my burgers" or even "I get that you don't like meat but you eat chicken right?"

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