Saturday, February 20, 2010

Great Vegan Adventure: Day 4

I am an omnivore...let's face it...I am. I like meat! I like cheese, dairy, eggs...I like it all. Well, I'm not that fond of fish so they're safe from me.

Are there those out there whose bodies truly can't handle meat and are true vegetarians? Our teeth are built for grinding and tearing and we're pretty efficient at eating meat when we want it. Although we do have to cook it to tenderize it but we can do it.

So, why do we decide to become vegan?

Moral grounds: To respect the animals of the earth.

Abhorrence: To be completely turned off by how animals are treated and slaughtered.

Health: To feel better over all, physically and mentally

Lent: To give it up for a period of days because of the religious reasons or to support the partner.

I'm more of a Temple Grandin. (Disclaimer: I saw the movie, but have yet to read her bio. Claire Danes was awesome in it!)

Animals are here for us, she says, but that doesn't us the right to treat them inhumanely.

I don't see anything wrong with eating eggs, drinking milk or cheese, which, of course, all come from animals, if they are treated humanely. And perhaps I'm putting my head in the sand, but I tend to purposefully not think about the animal as I'm eating it because if I do...I get grossed out. I know, it's a pretty big reason not to eat meat! But I honestly don't see anything wrong with the rest of it.

For quite a while I was dealing with infertility, unsuccessfully, and was advised to do all kinds of things like avoid coffee, put my legs over my head after having sex, lose weight...

Well, two out of three ain't bad...I didn't lose the weight and really didn't change much in the way of my eating habits. There's a part of me that feels guilty about that...if I had changed my way of eating and had lost the weight, would I have gotten pregnant? I don't know...my hormone levels could have changed and it may have worked. I have a little residual guilt about this. But then, I'm not sure I ever could have gotten pregnant.

I have a very small uterus...infantile uterus is what my doctor called it. An outdated term according to him but it's accurate.

As far as losing weight, you can't really talk anyone out of their vices until they're ready to lose those vices. You have to be really ready to lose the weight because no amount of badgering or guilt tripping or cajoling will make someone do what they're not ready to do.

What is my point...well, I guess that I'm hoping that I turn a corner and really take charge of my health and weight...and maybe this is the way to do it...

Well, off to eat roasted peppers, roasted potatoes and whatever else is in the fridge...

Cheers!

2 comments:

  1. Have you ever seen the book, The China Study?

    It's a bit thick and academic and something of a slog to work one's way through, but in it is an eye-popping study that has to do with the effects of casein, the protein in dairy, and what it does to little meeces in various experiements involving cancer and tumor development.

    The author, T. Colin Campbell, grew up on a dairy farm and had always been a proponent or at the least an agnostic about milk. After seeing casein's effects in his experiments, he became something of an apostle preaching the evils of ingesting another mammal's breast milk in any of its forms, including I hate to say, cheese. And who doesn't love cheese?

    Also, about teeth.

    You'll note that most of our teeth, not all, were engineered for grinding, as were those of the big vegetarians: elephants, hippos, giraffes, etc.

    Our "tearing" teeth, our incisors, by contrast, are not as developed, not exactly the fearsome, razor-sharp tools of carnivorous animals. This suggests, not that we as humans were meant to be vegan or even vegetarians necessarily, but as you noted, omnivores.

    What matters, though, is to what degree.

    Meat was a rarity before fast food restaurants and factory farming. Our teeth adapted to that fact and, as still evidenced today, evolved by and large to grind seeds and grains. Similarly, our intestines are, unlike a cat's straight shot intestinal tract that moves fetid flesh through the system quickly, curls round and round to allow digestion and absorption of fiborous foods. Our intestines are physically not designed for a lot of flesh.

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  2. There really are so many delicious things to do with vegetables, right?

    Omnivore,food lover, me. Inspiring, you.

    Crazy cake, in all the old church/commmunity cookbooks, also listed sometimes as mix-in-the-pan cake, or etc. Vinegar and baking soda, veg oil instead of butter, and cocoa instead of chocolate. VEGAN! and delish. Will send exact specs.

    Also, things like toasted walnut oil or pumpkin seed oil are so good (and fatty, in a healthy way) that they might be able to get me through a week or two w/o butter. Hmmm.

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