I believe veganism is more like a cult following than a health issue. Although there is lots of science that shows a mainly vegetarian diet is health like the Gerson diet but it used supplements for what was missing in a vegan diet. Some of the things in vegan diets are known as really changed over time and now dangerous like GMO corn which the company is so proud to say it is an insecticide and insects cannot eat it or they die but good for people Ha Ha . Wheat which is spray with roundup a known cancer causing agent. Other GMO vegetables that we probably will not know the effects for many years and then it is too late. I have difficulties listen to medical people about health as they only make money when you are sick and their life expectancy is not that good. I follow success I live in an area of the D.R. and there is a lot of people close by who are 100+ year old they are my nutritional experts. If they live that long without a doctor they have the knowledge I want not experts pushing a fad.
One of the things that I have noticed is that there are people eating all kinds of diets who are healthy, and other people who are not healthy. For example, you can find pictures of vegans who are in body-building competitions, and then you can find pictures of other vegans who look like they are ready to wither up and blow away and don’t look healthy at all. Same thing with meat-eaters, some of the body builders are heavy meat -eaters, or have something like low carb or paleo diet. Still, we all know that you can’t live on chicken McNuggets and be healthy. I think that the difference between healthy and not healthy is PLANTS. I think that we all need a lot more fresh greens, veggies, and fruits than we often get, and a lot less processed food, of any kind. I think that we should eat as much of our food fresh and raw as possible, and I am talking about foods that we can eat raw, as opposed to foods that should be cooked. I think I might have mentioned my friend that doesn’t like any vegetables, and nether does her husband. She read the “How Not to Die” book by Dr. Gregor, and decided that mybe they would be healthier if they were vegans. They are both sickly and going to the doctor all of the time, and have multiple ailments., so I thought that maybe a vegan diet would work for her. However, they still didn’t eat vegetables or much salads. They lived on things like rice, bread, beans, and lots of desserts (made with whole wheat flour and honey, of course). Soon, her husband was sneaking out to go to McDonalds for his burgers and fries, because he missed his meat, and was always hungry from way to much sugar in his food. Technically, they were vegans, but they weren’t eating any vegetables , and very little greens or fresh fruit.
We must have meat, fish, chicken and seafood in our life. Love burgers, a good medium/rare prime rib, country style baby back ribs, cooked Salmon (bacon wrapped), meatloaf, hot dogs, sausage/bacon for breakfast, shrimp and my wife totally loves a good lobster tail. To us this IS healthy eating and we love it. And, btw, milking machines don't hurt dairy cows and beef on ranches, feedlots and farms get the very best livestock feed that can be bought. Great quality hay as well. We fed top-notch hog/swine feed on the farm I was on in high school. I know, I'm the one, at 6:30AM and 5PM, rain/shine/sleet/freezing temps/snow who fed our hogs every day. We took some darn good looking hogs to market.
I've been a Vegan for a long time! I always include a Vegetable or two with my Steaks, Chops, Ribs, Roasts, and Burgers! Hal
My dad would say that all these diet foods are just too much and can't eat them. He just dose not have room for them after he eats his regular meals
@Yvonne Smith How is the more healthier food going? I think someone can really tell the difference in how they feel based on how they eat. Doesn't mean a person always has to eat super healthy, but for the majority of their food they probably should.
Overall, I think that I am in pretty good health , and all of my blood tests came out good when they did them last week. I don’t think that I want to be a vegan, or necessarily even a vegetarian, but I think that having a mostly plant-based food plan is good for me. Except for the heart meds, I don’t have to take any other medications, pain pills, cholesterol, diabetes, or any other kind of complications that many people of my age have problems with.
@Yvonne Smith My Slavic forbears would shudder if they were exposed to the great extremes folks go to today in their eating habits! Mostly farmers, they raised much of what they ate. My Dad's parents had 5 kids; he was the firstborn. All of them grew up healthy and lived to average old ages. They all ate plenty of meat and eggs, but liked vegetables especially cooked in with the meat dishes. My Mother leaned more toward veggies than anyone I knew, and made a lot of home-made soups using veggies, often incorporating meats of one kind or another. OTOH, her all-veggie soups, split pea, potato, bean, and so on, were delicious as far as I was concerned. Seems we ate what we felt were well-balanced meals, though the foreign "greenhorns" we were had no idea of that concept on paper. Frank
Not only were they eating well-balanced meals and healthy foods, but since they were home-grown, they were fresh and had all of the nutrients left in them. If something was fried, it was fried in a natural fat like lard or butter, and not trans-fats like is used at almost all fast food places, and even in good restaurants, for deep-frying. Foods didn’t have preservatives, flavor-enhancers, and who knows what other chemicals packed into them, and flour was probably real whole wheat, ground into flour. Also, even though people ate sweets and desserts, they ate way less sugar per capita than people get now. Just one liter of soda pop has around 20 spoons of sugar, for heaven’s sake ! Most foods (that were not eaten raw) were either boiled or baked, with only a few foods actually being fried. Nothing was cooked in a microwave, which kills all of the enzymes in foods and makes the food virtually non-existant in nutrients. It is sad, but many people almost live on food purchased ready-to-eat from somewhere; either a store, or fast food place, or with home delivery, and not on wholesome , home-cooked meals. Most of those foods don’t have vegetables, or very little; so people are eating a diet that is almost bereft of healthy fresh greens and veggies.
It was amazing how much 'less sore' my muscles were after I quit using sugar. I thought it was all just due to aging, but it had to be in the sugar I was eating.
Sugar is one of the most acid-forming foods there is, as well as the most inflammatory to our body. When we have inflammation, we have pain . I seriously needed my walker to get around very well before I stopped having much sugar/starches in my diet, and now I seldom have to take anything for my arthritis, unless I over-indulge. When I went with my daughter to Orlando last year, we had dinners out, and sometimes even dessert, and by the time we cam e home a week later, I could barely walk. Bobby had to help me get into the house ! As long as I eat right, and exercise every day, I do not have any problem with sore muscles and aching joints , for the most part.
My newest favorite is Sargento Sweet Balanced breaks. There are 6 or so combinations to choose from, all 100 calories. They are just a wonderful mix of bits of good stuff.