Vegetarianism

[Taliesin]

BTW, would you like a hamburger? I like mine rare

A convincing argument for vegetarianism right there...

 

[Grisu]

I'm not a vegetarian, and I'm indifferent towards vegetarianism. I agree with what Enkidu Warrior that it's a purely personal decision.
I do, however, realize that it would be healthier for me if I'd eat less meat...

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

I don't mind what others do, but personally I don't think I could do it right now.

I eat far too much meat and far too little veg to make it feasible (I don't like the veg), unless I ate a tonne of cerals and fruits etc.

 

[Hotpoint]

Physiologically Humans are omnivores with both our teeth and digestive systems designed to consume meat as well as vegetables. There are certainly indications that the percentage of meat in our diet should be substantially lower than our intake of other foods, but given that we are evolutionarily designed the way we are, the optimum diet would include meat.

Our closest living relative, the Chimpanzee, is also an omnivore by the way and it is also thought our closest non-living relative (Neandethal man) ate a diet which was overwhelmingly carnivorous (maybe 80%+ meat).

 

[Wolfe Tone]

As long as they don't try to force me to not eat meat then vegetarians can do what they like.

 

[Mirc]

I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't have anything about this idea... I don't see really any benefits, while I see a lot sacrifices. I will never be a vegetarian .

 

[Rik Meleet]

I'm not a vegetarian, but my Girlfriend is.
And no: it's not difficult to cook for 1 person who eats meat and 1 who doesn't.

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

I couldn't live without meat

 

[friskymike]

I'm vegetarian, though I do eat fish (try living in Japan without eating fish - impossible!). I see it as a purely personal decision and I would never presume to tell anyone else what to eat.

In my experience for every preachy vegetarian there are 10 arrogant meat-eaters who take the existence of vegetarians as a mortal affront to their right to eat meat. Not to mention the millions of people who think it's hilarious to offer me a hamburger. Never heard that one before .

I feel exactly the same!
Started eating fish last year for health reasons, now I'll eat any seafood.

My philosophy is quite simple: I wouldn't kill a chicken, cow, lamb whatever personally for food, so I won't eat it. I would kill a fish though. I don't claim to be consistent, thats just my own personal justification for my choices and I don't try and push it on anyone else.

And whoever said vegetarians are skinny, you haven't met me.

Love my indian/south-east asian food. Mmmm spices

 

[Grisu]

I'm not a vegetarian, but my Girlfriend is.
And no: it's not difficult to cook for 1 person who eats meat and 1 who doesn't.

same situation here you get used to cooking that way. (though my gf isn't vegetarian for any ideological reasons, she just doesn't like meat)

 

[ComradeDavo]

I am a vegetarian. This is because I personally I feel that all animals should be given a chance at life and that I have no need to eat flesh so why take an animals life when I am doing fine without.

Vegetarian food can be good, but I've found two negative things in some of the vegetarians I've met: 1) They can develop a holier than thou attitude which is offputting. 2) They're skinny and weak, both undesirable traits from my perspective.

So I'm not a big fan of vegetarianism.

Well i've beaten my larger meat eating friends at arm wrestling before, so maybe you should take that 'weak' comment back

In my experience for every preachy vegetarian there are 10 arrogant meat-eaters who take the existence of vegetarians as a mortal affront to their right to eat meat. Not to mention the millions of people who think it's hilarious to offer me a hamburger. Never heard that one before .

Exactly!! In my closest group of friends there are 2 of us who are vegetarian, and we never preach about it, yet the others often find it amusing to put meat near our faces or whatever

 

[Ansar]

This girl in my history class claims to be a vegetarian...

She doesent eat meat(steak, porkchops, etc.), but she eats chicken and fish.

 

[Mise]

I was a vegitarian for just over 3 years until November 2005. At first I was very passionate about it, but towards the end I realised that I was just doing it out of habit than for any noble cause. I was never preachy about it, and would echo Enkidu Warrior and ComradeDavo's comments regarding meat-eaters being FAR more militant than I ever was. Before I became a vegitarian, my parents bestowed Hindu culture on me, which meant that I didn't eat anything from a Cow or a Pig, though in practice this meant that I only ate chicken and fish, and occasionally lamb. Now I'll eat anything that sounds tasty, but it's normally, well, chicken and fish . I actually put on a lot of weight after becoming a vegitarian, btw, and now that I'm eating meat again I've lost a bit...

 

[mrtn]

jonatas comment on how they're skinny and weak doesn't hold water as far as I'm concerned. Two of my best friends and my girlfriend is vegetarians, and I'm the skinniest of us all. And I'm not the strongest either.
It's quite possible to eat just as unhealthy as a vegatarian than as a omnivore, cheese all day long...
Personally I think that meat is good for me.

 

[Mulholland]

While I agree that vegitarianism can be quite accomidating to some lifestyles to others it is detrimental.
I tried the whole vegitarian thing for three years. It was all good when I was at uni sitting on my arse, studying and going for the occasional run. But when I tree planted over the summer(A uber-pysically demanding job) my muscles started become super-painful and waste away due the lack of high protein. Needless to say I had to switch back because of necessity.

 

[Narz]

How do you live?

Were you ever not a vegan? How long have you been one? What made you change? Can you see yourself losing your vegan status in the future?

How do I live?? Pretty easily. Did someone try to convince you human life was impossible without meat & dairy?

In answer to your other questions. I was "not a vegan" for 23 years. Been one for three. I changed because I was feeling ill, I found out I was allergic to wheat and dairy products so I dropped those first. Felt a lot better better but by that point I was very interested in nutrition so I continued experimenting. Eventually I started replacing out meat. I remember going two days without it one week, then three. Then a whole week. All the propaganda saying I'd feel "weak", etc. was not my experience. I felt fine and do not crave it at all (those I did have a dream I ate a Wendy's cheeseburger once, it tasted pretty bad though ).

I just examined the evidence and gradually changed. It's not something you jump into overnight (although some can do it). I have nothing against meat eaters (though I do always urge them to buy organic, free-roaming, humanely-slaughtered animals for their own health, the ecological impact and compassionate reasons), in fact I buy a few pounds of free-range chicken every week to fed to my cats (I chop it up for them and give it to them raw, bones and all, now THAT'S a carnivore! ).

Physiologically Humans are omnivores with both our teeth and digestive systems designed to consume meat as well as vegetables. There are certainly indications that the percentage of meat in our diet should be substantially lower than our intake of other foods, but given that we are evolutionarily designed the way we are, the optimum diet would include meat.

Our closest living relative, the Chimpanzee, is also an omnivore by the way and it is also thought our closest non-living relative (Neandethal man) ate a diet which was overwhelmingly carnivorous (maybe 80%+ meat).

Our teeth and digestive system are designed like a frugivores. Our teeth are perfect was masticating fruit and vegetables. Try ripping a piece of flesh off a live (or freshly killed) rabbit and see how easy it is. The length of our digestive track is many times longer than say a cat or even a wolf (and even dogs can be vegetarian though I'm not sure I'd make mine one, supposedly the longest lived dog is one).

Chimps eat some animal food (maybe 3% of calories, much of it insects :yum: ) but our other biological cousin (who some argue we are even more related to the Bonobo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo) which eats almost 100% plant based (fruit, vegetables, nuts, etc.) diet.

As for Neandethals, it is irrelivant what that ate since they were annhilated by their more intelligent cosins - the Cro Magnons (aka : us).

This girl in my history class claims to be a vegetarian...

She doesent eat meat(steak, porkchops, etc.), but she eats chicken and fish.

Yep, there's a lot of those phonies, making us look bad.

jonatas comment on how they're skinny and weak doesn't hold water as far as I'm concerned. Two of my best friends and my girlfriend is vegetarians, and I'm the skinniest of us all. And I'm not the strongest either.

I didn't think it did either. I just didn't choose to comment on it because he said it was only the ones he met (which I figured is a pretty small sampling).

It's quite possible to eat just as unhealthy as a vegatarian than as a omnivore, cheese all day long...

Oh definitely, most vegetarians probably eat a ton of cheese as well as a lot of soy. Neither one was good for me.

 

[fishlore]

For every meal I eat, something on my plate had parents at one time. I couldn't care less what anyone else does though. I haven't eaten a fruit or vegetable since I was forced to as a kid.

 

[Narz]

While I agree that vegitarianism can be quite accomidating to some lifestyles to others it is detrimental.
I tried the whole vegitarian thing for three years. It was all good when I was at uni sitting on my arse, studying and going for the occasional run. But when I tree planted over the summer(A uber-pysically demanding job) my muscles started become super-painful and waste away due the lack of high protein. Needless to say I had to switch back because of necessity.

I doubt you "had to" switch back. There are a lot of plant sources of high protein - spirulina, hempseeds, almonds are pretty high. Were you eating a lot of soy? Too much soy made me feel somewhat weak as well. I don't think you can accurately judge the reason for why you felt ill without a blood workup. Also, people seem to think that there is ONE vegetarian diet. That's not the case. If you replace out the meat with all soy and grains you may suffer ill effects. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, juice and superfoods (green protein powders, hempseeds, maca root powder stuff like that) may help tremendously. If you switch from a varied diet to just brown rice and steamed veggies you may not be getting quite everything you need.

Just my thoughts. I don't know your situtaion fully. Sounds like a cool job (the tree planting thing).

 

[Narz]

For every meal I eat, something on my plate had parents at one time. I couldn't care less what anyone else does though. I haven't eaten a fruit or vegetable since I was forced to as a kid.

That's how I used to be.

Unfortunatly it catches up to you. You can eat some meat and still be healthy but if you don't eat ANY fruits and vegetables, eventually you will probably get sick.

 

[newfangle]

I try not to eat harsher meats anymore. The fat and grissle content makes me want to yack. Poultry and pork I still enjoy but I'm trying to weed them out of my diet.

Why? Not on moral grounds, rather, I want higher energy levels.