Who Is Vegan Or Vegetarian?

So, am prolly gonna go full vegan. Did it for two yrs but went back to fish slowly. Tiny bit of meat. Right now, am about 85 percent vegan, 90 percent veggie. I take fish oil, but wondering about people's experiences with veganism and instability. Lot written about it being a problem on the down pole. Not what I need.

Doing this mostly for personal health goals but def also climate change. Plus, I love animals and fishies. I am contradictory.

Grandad was a Texas cattle rancher who lived to 98 after red meat three times a day, so, um, yeaaaaah.....

I'm not, I love salmon I do eat a lot of vegetables though, some from our garden.

Yummer!!! Cannot live near Scotland or Oregon and not love salmon...

I am neither, but would have a heck of a time eating vegan. Vegetarian would be significantly easier for me as I love real dairy and eggs. As an enthusiastic cook, I just find vegan eating distressing. I briefly tried it to lower my cholesterol and it was a total no-go for me.

I also believe in treating animals kindly, so think decreasing meat and dairy consumption is the right thing to do. I am all for going back to the kinder ways of raising our animal friends. I would be quite willing to pay more for that, and eat meat and dairy in smaller quantities. My brother raises quite happy chickens. I like going more local for many things, when possible. It used to be easier.

Meat was definitely different back in the day.
Dad was hunting a lot and we grew up on a farm.

I always thought it was weird to eat pigs or boars when we pet cats and roll our eyes at the Chinese for eating dogs when we eat deer. And so on. Melanie Joy calls it carnism.

So I'd say I'm an ethical vegan — when I was eight I used to say I'd like to stand on my head when I'll be eighty.
I don't see differences between animals and humans. We're primates belonging to the same kingdom, Animalia.
Historically we ate animals to survive, hence why we're omnivores, but our anatomy proves to be more closely related to that of herbivores. See comparative anatomy.
Dairy is addictive because of the casein. It's worse on the body than eating a whole ribeye steak. This is the main reason why vegetarians can't shift to a plant-based, vegan diet.
In the old China Study by Dr. Colin Campbell (I say old because China's changed its diet significantly over the decades), a diet absent in animal protein is advised for better health.

I don't eat much meat, dairy and eggs, but I don't consider myself vegetarian or vegan. I guess I eat meat about once a week. I've had a bunch of vegan meals, both homemade and from professional restaurants. I have some vegan family members, so I eat that sort of stuff fairly regularly. While some of those meals are good, I often feel like they're just missing something. And if gluten-free comes into the mix, forget about it. Gluten-free "bread" is not deserving of the name.

Going full vegan would take the fun out of life for me. They don't even have anything approaching a good pizza or lasagna. Can't have nachos. Can't have a proper cake on your bday. No thank you, I'll pass. I'm not saying you should eat that stuff every day, but I want to be able to eat "unhealthy" food now and then.

Even most "regular" products you can buy contain things like lactose, so you're pretty much limited to expensive specialized vegan products. Besides, I'm not convinced that any radical diet is the only healthy way to eat, and some of them are actually quite unhealthy if done wrong. I'm more of an "everything in moderation" kind of guy. In fact the more miraculous claims around some diet, the more skeptical I get. Also, the "holier than thou" attitude that some vegans have really puts me off. Same reason I'm not fond of France.

P.S. Sometimes I go through weeks or months of eating no meat/dairy/eggs and effectively eating vegan. Other times I eat non-vegan more often than usual. I don't think I've noticed any clear effect on mood (or energy levels for that matter--a claim often made by vegans).

China Study was refuted by so many scholars, but I found a lot of helpful info in that book.

I could never be Vegetarian

my diet would consist purely of fries because that's all I would eat

my X friend laura was a Vegetarian, and honestly I never understood it

I didn't reject her for it (what she eats is up to her), but I'm a meat eater and always will be!

for the record, I do feel sad when the animals go for slaughter (and I've seen programmes where they show you how it is actually done), but I rely on meat. I'd starve without it

Quote:

Originally Posted by cygne Meat was definitely different back in the day. Dad was hunting a lot and we grew up on a farm. I always thought it was weird to eat pigs or boars when we pet cats and roll our eyes at the Chinese for eating dogs when we eat deer. And so on. Melanie Joy calls it carnism. So I'd say I'm an ethical vegan — when I was eight I used to say I'd like to stand on my head when I'll be eighty. I don't see differences between animals and humans. We're primates belonging to the same kingdom, Animalia. Historically we ate animals to survive, hence why we're omnivores, but our anatomy proves to be more closely related to that of herbivores. See comparative anatomy. Dairy is addictive because of the casein. It's worse on the body than eating a whole ribeye steak. This is the main reason why vegetarians can't shift to a plant-based, vegan diet. In the old China Study by Dr. Colin Campbell (I say old because China's changed its diet significantly over the decades), a diet absent in animal protein is advised for better health.

Dairy is addictive? Like as addictive as opiates and alcohol?

I was a vegetarian for years. I enjoyed it. I didn't notice any major health benefits though. I was extremely sick while pregnant and couldn't keep anything down. I went back to chicken at that time because I was losing so much weight and I was able to keep it down. Now I eat poultry and fish, but no beef or pork.

I could go back to being a vegetarian, but not a vegan. I don't eat a lot of dairy, but I need pizza in my life. I also like to bake and while vegan baking has come a long way, some things just aren't even close.

I'm leaning more toward a Mediterranean diet. It has been shown to be beneficial for physical health and new studies show it aids mental and emotional health as well. In general, eliminating processee foods that cause unnatural chemical responses just seems like a solid idea.

The barriers to veganism for me are fish, esp local Chinook salmon I was raised on, burger once a month, pizza, and ce cream. But there are good alternatives to all. Hugs!!!

right

and I could never eat fish either

I don't like the smell (it makes me gag) and, unless it has breadcrumbs or batter on it, you won't get me near it

fussy eater alert

Re the environment, I think the main thing is for people to eat less meat (and dairy/eggs), but cutting it out entirely is not necessarily required. Hopefully we'll have good artificially grown meat soon, although I believe some people object to that.

I'm of the opinion that if you do eat meat, you shouldn't be squeamish about acknowledging where it came from. Something about honoring the animal I suppose.

Most animals are vegetarians. But carrots & all the other vegetables want to live, too. And they don't eat anybody. Well, most of them don't. I must admit, I eat fish. And all the fish eat fish. Well, except krill are vegetarians.

I always felt trout had cruel and evil faces.

I just planted a bunch of carrots with the intent to eat them. I like to think the appreciate their role in the circle of life, but maybe that's just wishful thinking

Thanks for this message. What is artificially grown meat? As I wrote in my first post here, I eat farmed oysters. I have read that farming oysters helps purify the ocean. I wonder if this is true. Does anyone know?

It's meat that isn't taken from a slaughtered animal but rather produced by culturing "meat" cells (real animal cells). It's real meat, it just wasn't grown inside an animal so there's no suffering involved. Some people don't like the idea of eating something that "came from a lab" but I would think this is a good development. We can stop animal cruelty without force-feeding everyone a vegan diet against their will. It's also much easier on the ozone layer than animal-grown meat.

Unrelated: The China Study, I'm not a fan of it, though I'm sure it contains some nuggets of wisdom. My wife is very enthusiastic about it, but to me it's just too black and white. Real life doesn't work that way. The book comes across as a religious text the way it demonizes anything non-vegan. It makes me question the objectivity of the authors, and indeed the book does quote selectively from the literature. I'm sure (occasionally) eating vegan can be healthy, and I'm sure you shouldn't eat a pound of bacon every day, but I don't believe eating meat or dairy now and then will poison you. I prefer a balanced discussion instead of a holy text. Unfortunately balanced discussions are hard to find when it comes to diet.

Yup — getting the cravings, I guess. A lot of people say the same. I guess it's the taste of what's familiar to you and what you've grown up on.

My spouse mentions his Dad's steaks and Grandmother's pies and starts drooling at the thought of a juicy pork slider so once he's in that mood, there's rarely any turning back for him.

Eat what works for you and for your body. Moderation is key, of course. Organic and free range meat would be something I'd advise most people who are on a mostly plant-based (not vegan diet) to equate for the loss of nutrients and hormone-filled industrial meat.

I am extremely worried about the environment we are leaving to our kids and their kids.