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Meat Eater, Vegetarian or Vegan?

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Replies

  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    I'll go with the other posters who have said that they can all be healthy or unhealthy. I consider myself an omnivore rather than a "meat eater", as I also eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. My personal opinion is that a balanced, varied omnivorous diet is the easiest in terms of getting all macro and micronutrients without requiring supplementation or having to tailor my eating toward avoiding specific deficiencies.
  • kensreboot
    kensreboot Posts: 17 Member
    Vegetarian for 3.5 years, would prefer to be 100% Vegan. In my adult life I can honestly say that I have never felt better than when I went full vegan for a few months back in 2012. I miss those days. I have now been 99% Vegan for the past 6 weeks and loving it!
  • SpiderGwens
    SpiderGwens Posts: 87 Member
    I was a vegetarian for 8 years, but I gained a lot of weight because I mostly ate carbs. I was definitely an example of an unhealthy vegetarian diet.

    I eat meat now, but it's mostly poultry and fish. I'll occasionally eat red meat, but not very often.
  • andriacheever
    andriacheever Posts: 10 Member
    I'm a vegetarian since 1998. I chose for religious reasons, but I found that I had a lot more food options as a vegetarian because I never learned to cook meat(thus always had to eat fast food which was expensive!).

    I love eating vegetarian and eventually desire to become vegan again. (I was a vegan for 3 years at one point)

    I believe from the many doctors that have written about the effect of meat on the body that it's more healthful to be without it, however, as far as religion goes, God did give permission to eat clean meats after the flood and so I will not judge those who do so.

    It's interesting to read everyone's posts!
  • zcb94
    zcb94 Posts: 3,679 Member
    Omnivore because I love food.
    This! As long as I'm not allergic to it, I enjoy it.
  • pie_eyes
    pie_eyes Posts: 12,965 Member
    Uhh... I eat meat and am aware that it's unhealthy and risky. But meat in my mind is the centerpiece of a meal.

    I don't like the way they kill or treat animals but I can't change other people
  • scriptie
    scriptie Posts: 19 Member
    Pescatarian (Vegetarian+Fish). Easier for me to get protein and make meals for my family that I can be included in on. I don't eat seafood too much because of the price.

    I don't like meat for ethical reasons as well as environmental, and I also feel that if I ate meat I'd be pressured more often than not to eat it at every meal which I myself do not find healthy.

    Anecdotal evidence to back that up is that my SO had very bad LDL levels when I first met him, as his family ate a lot of red meat at almost every meal. His LDL is now normal levels since we have lived together, because he eats more vegetarian meals or meals with chicken/fish. This was about 2 years difference in getting his LDL levels checked.

    Sad note is that his father had a triple bypass at the age of 42... Shows you that what you eat is very important to your health.
  • Mindfullyjo
    Mindfullyjo Posts: 40 Member
    The majority of my meals are non meat. I love cooking so enjoy the huge variety of meals available to veggies. When I do eat meat I'm careful of source. No battery hens, only outdoor reared animals. If we all eat less meat we reduce global warming, help feed the whole planet and hand over a safer, kinder world to our children.
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
    scriptie wrote: »
    Pescatarian (Vegetarian+Fish). Easier for me to get protein and make meals for my family that I can be included in on. I don't eat seafood too much because of the price.

    I don't like meat for ethical reasons as well as environmental, and I also feel that if I ate meat I'd be pressured more often than not to eat it at every meal which I myself do not find healthy.

    Anecdotal evidence to back that up is that my SO had very bad LDL levels when I first met him, as his family ate a lot of red meat at almost every meal. His LDL is now normal levels since we have lived together, because he eats more vegetarian meals or meals with chicken/fish. This was about 2 years difference in getting his LDL levels checked.

    Sad note is that his father had a triple bypass at the age of 42... Shows you that what you eat is very important to your health.
    Yeah, there's a lot of research that links excessive red meat consumption to negative health outcomes. I do eat red meat regularly, but the amounts I'm eating are within the guidelines set by most organizations on the amount of red meat that should be consumed.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    edited February 2016
    pie_eyes wrote: »
    Uhh... I eat meat and am aware that it's unhealthy and risky. But meat in my mind is the centerpiece of a meal.

    I don't like the way they kill or treat animals but I can't change other people

    You've been misinformed. It is neither unhealthy nor risky.

    ETA unless you're eating it raw.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Meat. To be quite honest I am moving towards carnivore because I feel better without plant products in my life.

    I am was prediabetic, and I switched to a low carb diet to help stabilize my blood glucose. I realized fairly quickly that I felt better as my carbs decreased so I switched to a ketogenic diet. I appear to be quite carb sensitive so I started dropping some veggies and realized that I felt better without most of them. My only plant product hold overs are coconut ( and cream and oil), nuts, avocado, some canola in my mayonnaise, coffee and stevia drops.

    I know I can get all of the nutrients I need from animal products so I am not at all worried about nutrition. I think many of the healthful parts of plants, like fibre, are there to help humans deal with eating plants. They seem to become redundant as you move away from a plant based diet.

    I also eat eggs and full fat dairy. I probably eat meat twice a day, sometimes more and sometimes less. I keep protein to about 20% for blood glucose reasons.

    I know eating almost like a carnivore seems odd but I think that is because it is uncommon, and because of the anti cholesterol and saturated fats messages (based on what i think was a lack of science to back it up) that became so widely accepted in the past 50 odd years. I think eventually that being a carnivore will be though to be about as unusual as a vegetarian or vegan.
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    As has been mentioned several times already, there is more variation in nutritional adequacy and health outcomes within these groups than between them. Any of the three diet styles can be extremely healthy, extremely unhealthy, or anywhere in between.

    That being said, statistically vegetarians have consistently experienced lower mortality rates and lower rates of coronary heart disease across multiple large studies conducted in the last half century or so. Many studies have also showed a reduction in cancer incidence, but the results are not as consistent as the CHD and mortality rates, so further study is definitely needed here.

    This could very well be due to confounding variables, like vegetable consumption or caloric intake, but it's certainly food for thought, as even the fairly well controlled (given the type of study) Adventist Health Studies at Loma Linda U showed lower mortality in the vegetarians vs omnivores studied.

    Here is a good overview of the research, and most of the studies cited are available online as well if you want more detail on the methodologies and data.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2677008/?tool=pubmed#__sec2title

    Personally, I am vegan, but for ethical rather than health reasons. If it were about health I'd eat a lot more kale and far fewer Nutter Butters
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited February 2016
    As has been mentioned several times already, there is more variation in nutritional adequacy and health outcomes within these groups than between them. Any of the three diet styles can be extremely healthy, extremely unhealthy, or anywhere in between.

    Yes, that's my view.
    That being said, statistically vegetarians have consistently experienced lower mortality rates and lower rates of coronary heart disease across multiple large studies conducted in the last half century or so. Many studies have also showed a reduction in cancer incidence, but the results are not as consistent as the CHD and mortality rates, so further study is definitely needed here.

    This could very well be due to confounding variables, like vegetable consumption or caloric intake, but it's certainly food for thought, as even the fairly well controlled (given the type of study) Adventist Health Studies at Loma Linda U showed lower mortality in the vegetarians vs omnivores studied.

    I think it's likely the confounding variables -- people who bother to go vegetarian (and especially vegan) are more often health-conscious and also just following a diet that requires more thought and to cut out foods that are commonly overeaten (even if healthful in moderation), as well as being a population more likely to eat adequate plant foods (which the US pop as a whole is woefully bad at) are all important factors, I'd suspect. Similar to the questions raised about the China study, among others.

    But yes, I've also read those studies and think that's part of why the nutrition advice one gets is what it is. I think we all should probably keep an eye on sat fat and consume it in moderation (or sparingly) and eat lots of vegetables and other healthful plant foods. (I'd also encourage eating fish, although they are meat, but of course environmental issues and mercury makes that more problematic.)
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    As has been mentioned several times already, there is more variation in nutritional adequacy and health outcomes within these groups than between them. Any of the three diet styles can be extremely healthy, extremely unhealthy, or anywhere in between.

    Yes, that's my view.
    That being said, statistically vegetarians have consistently experienced lower mortality rates and lower rates of coronary heart disease across multiple large studies conducted in the last half century or so. Many studies have also showed a reduction in cancer incidence, but the results are not as consistent as the CHD and mortality rates, so further study is definitely needed here.

    This could very well be due to confounding variables, like vegetable consumption or caloric intake, but it's certainly food for thought, as even the fairly well controlled (given the type of study) Adventist Health Studies at Loma Linda U showed lower mortality in the vegetarians vs omnivores studied.

    I think it's likely the confounding variables -- people who bother to go vegetarian (and especially vegan) are more often health-conscious and also just following a diet that requires more thought and to cut out foods that are commonly overeaten (even if healthful in moderation), as well as being a population more likely to eat adequate plant foods (which the US pop as a whole is woefully bad at) are all important factors, I'd suspect. Similar to the questions raised about the China study, among others.

    But yes, I've also read those studies and think that's part of why the nutrition advice one gets is what it is. I think we all should probably keep an eye on sat fat and consume it in moderation (or sparingly) and eat lots of vegetables and other healthful plant foods. (I'd also encourage eating fish, although they are meat, but of course environmental issues and mercury makes that more problematic.)



    The gap does seem to close when you move from "average" to "health conscious" omnivores, so you are probably right for the most part. It's unfortunate that there is really no ethical way to do very high quality human nutrition studies, since they would require confining huge numbers of subjects to a lab for decades.

    I totally agree about the benefits of simply having to pay more attention as a vegetarian or vegan. I find I have to plan ahead to get adequate protein, and it's a lot easier to plan to eat healthy tomorrow and then follow through, than to eat healthy right now if I don't have a plan in place.

    I don't eat fish, but my reading did prompt me to buy an algae derived DHA supplement, in the hopes of getting some of the same benefits.
  • pie_eyes
    pie_eyes Posts: 12,965 Member
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    pie_eyes wrote: »
    Uhh... I eat meat and am aware that it's unhealthy and risky. But meat in my mind is the centerpiece of a meal.

    I don't like the way they kill or treat animals but I can't change other people

    You've been misinformed. It is neither unhealthy nor risky.

    ETA unless you're eating it raw.

    It is unhealthy

    And risky as in who knows if every bit reaches 165 righttr

    Being vegetarian is just as bad unless you buy everything organic
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    pie_eyes wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    pie_eyes wrote: »
    Uhh... I eat meat and am aware that it's unhealthy and risky. But meat in my mind is the centerpiece of a meal.

    I don't like the way they kill or treat animals but I can't change other people

    You've been misinformed. It is neither unhealthy nor risky.

    ETA unless you're eating it raw.

    It is unhealthy

    And risky as in who knows if every bit reaches 165 righttr

    Being vegetarian is just as bad unless you buy everything organic

    Another claim refuted by studies...

    Can't even tell if trolling...
  • allaboutthefood
    allaboutthefood Posts: 781 Member
    I don't think it matters, you can be fat, skinny and unhealthy as a meat eater, a vegan or a vegetarian. People say all you need to do is eat in a deficit to lose weight a calorie is a calorie and they are right to a point IMO (which I am allowed to have) You can also be perfectly healthy eating a meat diet, a vegan diet or a vegetarian diet. When I began my journey just over a new ago, I not only wanted to lose weight, I was on a mission to become healthy as well, change my lifestyle and that is what I did. I now eat whole natural plant pure foods, I cut all animal product. this was a personal choice. Everyone has to find their own path. I just felt this was the next step in my journey and the more I educate myself on food, health and fitness the more my path changes. Have I noticed health benefits, since I made the switch. I sure have. Things like I no longer suffer from migraines, I sleep better, TMI no more bathroom issues, skin is clear etc.. I cut out 90% of refine sugar, I do not eat take out. I pretty much make everything from scratch (it tastes way better) Very very very little processed foods. The other plus side is that I upped my calories and my carbs, I eat way more than I did before I made the switch and the weight keeps coming off nicely. So there's my two cents :)
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    I keep protein to about 20% for blood glucose reasons.

    I know eating almost like a carnivore seems odd but I think that is because it is uncommon, and because of the anti cholesterol and saturated fats messages (based on what i think was a lack of science to back it up) that became so widely accepted in the past 50 odd years. I think eventually that being a carnivore will be though to be about as unusual as a vegetarian or vegan.
    If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious as to roughly what percentage of body weight does that protein intake work out to be for you.


    pie_eyes wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    pie_eyes wrote: »
    Uhh... I eat meat and am aware that it's unhealthy and risky. But meat in my mind is the centerpiece of a meal.

    I don't like the way they kill or treat animals but I can't change other people

    You've been misinformed. It is neither unhealthy nor risky.

    ETA unless you're eating it raw.
    And risky as in who knows if every bit reaches 165 righttr
    That's why there are food thermometers. And the meat doesn't have to be pulled right at 165 either; it can be a bit higher than that.

  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    I keep protein to about 20% for blood glucose reasons.

    I know eating almost like a carnivore seems odd but I think that is because it is uncommon, and because of the anti cholesterol and saturated fats messages (based on what i think was a lack of science to back it up) that became so widely accepted in the past 50 odd years. I think eventually that being a carnivore will be though to be about as unusual as a vegetarian or vegan.
    If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious as to roughly what percentage of body weight does that protein intake work out to be for you.

    I keep my protein around 65-75g or so per day with a caloric intake set at about 1500kcal. My weight is 150lb. I find my BG starts being affected once my protein gets above 25%, or over 80-85g.

    If my BG starts creeping up, I lower protein a bit, and carbs a lot. I am not doing any consistent exercise, and since a ketogenic diet is muscle sparing, I am sure I am getting enough protein for my needs.
  • vegangela_
    vegangela_ Posts: 154 Member
    Vegan. For the animals. The weight loss and good health the came with it was just a bonus.