Don't call me a Vegan: Trying to improve my health

Don’t call me a vegan; I’m just eating a plant based diet.

This is really, really hard for me. My four favorite foods are bratwurst, braunschweiger, chorizo, and fried chicken. But the research is in. Apparently it has been in since the 1920’s or so. Animal products—and not just red meat, or processed meat—cause cancer. They cause heart disease, cancer, hypertension, cancer, gout, cancer, higher cholesterol, cancer, and cancer.

Yeah. Animal products cause cancer. Or at least the data tends to support that claim. And conversely, the data is tending to support the claim that eating a whole-food, plant based diet may prevent, treat, slow, and even reverse cancer progression…. mtn looks at the 2 uncles, 1 aunt, and 4 grandparents—all reasonably healthy people—and sees all of them have had cancer! Huh. Well. That isn’t fun. And I sure do want to be around to watch the world blow up. I think it will be cool to watch. Can’t do that if I’ve died. So I’m going to try to live.

So now, I, at the age of 27 and in reasonably good health, am going to a plant-based diet. It won’t be complete—I’ll still eat meat on vacation, I’ll still have a few brats a year. The hardest thing isn’t the meat, but the cheese and butter. But we’re going for it.

Any good tips for those that are already there? What is your best protein source?

Eggs would be really hard to drop for me.

I would stock up on rice and beans, because I love them, they are filling, and they are one of the only meals I can think of with no animal products.

So, you started a thread to tell us that you've gone Vegan? But you don't want to be called Vegan?

Sounds like you have been assimilated and are now one with the Cult of Vegan.

Robbie wrote: Eggs would be really hard to drop for me. I would stock up on rice and beans, because I love them, they are filling, and they are one of the only meals I can think of with no animal products.

1: Pasta with red sauce.
2: Tacos with avacodo, onion, tomato, cilantro. Rice and beans optional.
3: Pancakes (we have a recipe that works well, although we do miss the butter)
4: Falafel schawarma
5: Meatless chili

That is our plan for the next 5 days.

Burrito wrote: So, you started a thread to tell us that you've gone Vegan? But you don't want to be called Vegan? Sounds like you have been assimilated and are now one with the Cult of Vegan.

Basically. Mostly I just needed to put it out there publicly to keep myself to it. Because dammit I want a burger right now. Really, really bad.

I had a girlfriend once who claimed to be a vegan. Then one day she called me up at work and told me she was eating a steak. She was cray.

You can make a lot of stuff with tofu. It basically takes on the flavor of whatever you put on it.

you're going to either A: crave it and lose your willpower or B: lose taste for it and eventually quit wanting it. when you do crack(vacation apparently) it will probably not agree with you and you'll get sick.

i quit eating cows many years ago due to an allergic reaction i was having to the antibiotics they pump the animals with. at first it was hell, watching other people eat steaks and burgers. now the smell is a turnoff and i have no desire to eat it. i still eat turkey, some chicken, and some pork(no way in hell i'm giving up smoked pork shoulder) but have found myself ordering less and less meat, and being totally satisfied with it. i no longer order salads at taco places with meat, i just get grilled vegetables on them and it really takes nothing away from it plus it costs less.

your four favorite foods are probably four of the absolutely worst meat products for you not named hot dog or bologna.

i'm on a mission to cut out HFCS and processed sugars. it's hard to look at the label of something you love (arizona green tea with ginseng and HONEY) and see the thing you don't want to consume more of. i quit immediately. we only use pure unbleached cane sugar at home, and leave the processed bleached white beet based stuff for coffee at restaurants.

Goodluck! Im no help but i wish you the best, i had enough of an issue just quitting soda. I couldnt give up meat.

WOW! Going cold turkey? (pun intended). How awesome for you. But seriously, a balance diet is best. I'm a vegetarian and it took years to get where I am. I don't even want to eat meat anymore.

Increase the fruits and veggies. Add a smoothie machine too, like a Vitamix or something like that. Very filling and yummy with the right stuff added. Coconut flakes, dates, along with fruit you can keep frozen until needed.

Allow the occasional meat product you like but make it a special occasion!

The cheese is the hardest for me. So when I eat cheese I try to make it count with something with lots of flavor like swiss or gouda.

Did a quick search. Turns out the leading cause of death is linked to birth. And nobody is doing anything about it!

I get the fear of death bit. Since it has become a gargantuan profit center for society, we don't do a very good job of it from a promotional point, but then again, if someone told you that you could live forever if you stayed in a box and did nothing? Would you take the deal?

Sorry for derailing your Vegan thread. As a Buddhist by character but not by diet, I applaud the change. If it makes you happier, then I am all for it.

slowride wrote: I had a girlfriend once who claimed to be a vegan. Then one day she called me up at work and told me she was eating a steak. She was cray.

I thought this was going to be a " but swallows" answer.

Good luck mtn.

I think mainstream vegetarian with holiday cheating options is possibly doable for me but... vegan? That's like the Navy Seal level of eating. Hard to achieve and maybe dangerous in it's own way.

NOHOME wrote: Did a quick search. Turns out the leading cause of death is linked to birth. And nobody is doing anything about it! I get the fear of death bit. Since it has become a gargantuan profit center for society, we don't do a very good job of it from a promotional point, but then again, if someone told you that you could live forever if you stayed in a box and did nothing? Would you take the deal? Sorry for derailing your Vegan thread. As a Buddhist by character but not by diet, I applaud the change. If it makes you happier, then I am all for it.

Actually, educated societies have been cutting their birthrate all around the globe!

Hi mtn,

I was a lacto ovo (milk products and eggs only) vegetarian for many years. For me, legumes were the hot set-up (Garbanzo and Lentil) along with soybeans (edamame).

Study up on how to make a complete protein by combining foods (i.e. seeds + grains = protein). I’m still perfectly happy to chow down on a simple can of garbanzos after years of living on not much more than them.

Added later...

Vegan Protein Combinations

trucke wrote: WOW! Going cold turkey? (pun intended). How awesome for you. But seriously, a balance diet is best. I'm a vegetarian and it took years to get where I am. I don't even want to eat meat anymore. Increase the fruits and veggies. Add a smoothie machine too, like a Vitamix or something like that. Very filling and yummy with the right stuff added. Coconut flakes, dates, along with fruit you can keep frozen until needed. Allow the occasional meat product you like but make it a special occasion! The cheese is the hardest for me. So when I eat cheese I try to make it count with something with lots of flavor like swiss or gouda.

Not quite cold turkey. We're easing into it. And cheese will be the hardest for me too.

Good luck.

I considered it, but eventually decided the sooner I die, the better off I'll be.

Robbie wrote:

NOHOME wrote: Did a quick search. Turns out the leading cause of death is linked to birth. And nobody is doing anything about it! I get the fear of death bit. Since it has become a gargantuan profit center for society, we don't do a very good job of it from a promotional point, but then again, if someone told you that you could live forever if you stayed in a box and did nothing? Would you take the deal? Sorry for derailing your Vegan thread. As a Buddhist by character but not by diet, I applaud the change. If it makes you happier, then I am all for it.

Actually, educated societies have been cutting their birthrate all around the globe!

True, but they have been raising the cost to kack to make up for it.

I'm apparently going to die of cancer.

Good luck with the diet. I couldn't stick to a diet like that even if I wanted to.

Have you had Soyrizo yet? It's vegetarian and really good. It nails that good chorizo flavor but isn't greasy.

I've been a pescetarian or vegetarian for almost 12 years now. I've got a pretty killer vegan or split pea soup recipe if you'd like it. The only difference between the two is using butter or vegetable oil and I honestly can't taste a difference.

Robbie wrote:

NOHOME wrote: Did a quick search. Turns out the leading cause of death is linked to birth. And nobody is doing anything about it! I get the fear of death bit. Since it has become a gargantuan profit center for society, we don't do a very good job of it from a promotional point, but then again, if someone told you that you could live forever if you stayed in a box and did nothing? Would you take the deal? Sorry for derailing your Vegan thread. As a Buddhist by character but not by diet, I applaud the change. If it makes you happier, then I am all for it.

Actually, educated societies have been cutting their birthrate all around the globe!

To thoroughly derail the thread: unfortunately this leaves us in an Idiocracy situation. And globally the population is still increasing at a terrifying rate.

More on topic, I suspect it's more the processing and chemicals in our foods that causes problems than simply pointing a finger at meat. Primitive peoples since the dawn of time have eaten meat and avoided the big C by and large. A paleo diet is probably what you're looking for if cancer avoidance is your end goal.

thatsnowinnebago wrote: Have you had Soyrizo yet? It's vegetarian and really good. It nails that good chorizo flavor but isn't greasy.

We tried one brand a while back. Thought it was horrible on its own, but alright cut in with regular chorizo.

We'll have to find another.

KyAllroad wrote:

Robbie wrote:

NOHOME wrote: Did a quick search. Turns out the leading cause of death is linked to birth. And nobody is doing anything about it! I get the fear of death bit. Since it has become a gargantuan profit center for society, we don't do a very good job of it from a promotional point, but then again, if someone told you that you could live forever if you stayed in a box and did nothing? Would you take the deal? Sorry for derailing your Vegan thread. As a Buddhist by character but not by diet, I applaud the change. If it makes you happier, then I am all for it.

Actually, educated societies have been cutting their birthrate all around the globe!

To thoroughly derail the thread: unfortunately this leaves us in an Idiocracy situation. And globally the population is still increasing at a terrifying rate. More on topic, I suspect it's more the processing and chemicals in our foods that causes problems than simply pointing a finger at meat. Primitive peoples since the dawn of time have eaten meat and avoided the big C by and large. A paleo diet is probably what you're looking for if cancer avoidance is your end goal.

Sadly, this is not the case. Oh, how I wanted this to be the case!

Remember, we can't look at one study and say "oh, this is it!" You have to look at all the studies. And they're generally trending towards meat increases the chances of cancer. This may not be a big issue for a lot of folks--my wife's family, for instance, is relatively cancer free if you ignore lung cancer (coal miners and smokers). My family, however, is not cancer free. At all. So my genetics are stacked against me.

In reply to mtn:

Trader Joe's has a decent one but the Soyrizo branded one seems to be the best.

In reply to KyAllroad:

I imagine primitive people didn’t get cancer because they got berk’d by a wooly mammoth first.

RX Reven' wrote: In reply to KyAllroad: I imagine primitive people didn’t get cancer because they got berk’d by a wooly mammoth first.

They also likely ate a lot less meat than we do now.