posted October 28, 2008 12:23 AM         

If you contemplate vegetarianism or veganism, or are skeptical about those, or wondering how you can stick to a veggie diet, a veggie lifestyle and still consume balanced nutrients and maintain your well-being or even your children's well-being, or you are considering a change of your dietary habits and lifestyle, here are some helpful websites to get started with:

The International Vegetarian Union
www.ivu.org

contains comprehensive information.

The Vegan Society
www.vegansociety.com

Even if you are not ready to go vegan, this is still a very useful website for keeping you well-informed and vegducated on various issues. Log onto it and check it out.

Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation
www.vegetarian.org.uk

with a lot of information on vegan or vegetarian nutrition.

GoVeg.com

with tips for vegetarians-to-be and informative texts on a wide spectrum of topics about why you should consider becoming a vegetarian or vegan. Keeps you motivated.

VIVA!
www.viva.org.uk

Provides in-depth information for all those who need a helping hand regarding transforming your lifestyle into a vegetarian or vegan one- and probably also for your children, your elders, your babies, your unborn child.

BTW these are some of the books that have been recommended repeatedly by other fellow knowflakes here at LL:

"Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser

"Diet for a New America" by John Robbins

"The Food Revolution" by John Robbins

"The Silent Art" by Juliet Gellatley

"Plant-Based Nutrition and Health" by Stephen Walsh, PhD. , available at The Vegan Society, www.vegansociety.com

Food technology has provided variety for those who would love to have vegan pizza, pies, ice cream, desserts, mocked meaty feasts...of course, cutting down your dependency on mocked meats, mocked fish, mocked dairy (I am not talking about plant milks), baked foods would make your diet even healthier. Increase the intake of raw root (eg. carrot), stalk (eg. celery), flower (eg. cauliflower, broccoli) and fruit (eg. cucumber, pepper) vegetables is a good idea; Marmite or Vegemite is natural yeast extract and can be your spread on your toast or go with rice- experiment! And that's a good plant-based source of vitamin B12. Fortified plant milks (soyamilk, ricemilk, oatmilk, almond milk etc), fortified cereal and other fortified vegetarian or vegan foods are available at your local health food store; flaxseed oil is a good choice for your salad dressing as it tastes great and also provides ANLA, the plant version of omega-3 fatty acids that can be transformed in the body into EPA and DHA; nuts and seeds are an ideal source of protein, apart from tofu, soyamilk and other soya foods; get yourself some fresh air, enjoy the outdoors and get sunlight exposure for your vitamin D3 consumption; black sesame paste and dark green leafy vegetables are both good source of calcium...no worries, you can get yourself much better-informed with the links above.

Vegetarianism is not only a diet, not only a lifestyle. It is a state of mind. Vegetarianism does not go hand in hand with anger. When you intensely feel the suffering of animals for food and feel contemptous toward your fellow human beings who are meat-eaters or fish-eaters (pescitarians)- don't get too emotional. Don't preach. Don't alienate those people from yourself or vice versa. Don't attack meat or fish eaters physically or be verbally abusive. Take it easy. We're only human, and we all make mistakes. Vegetarianism should be all about non-violence and life-loving, so instead of preaching and condemning or being condescending- be nice, be patient, educate the public in a peaceful manner. The angrier you are, the more acidic your blood becomes, and the more difficult it feels to you to stay vegetarian. The more tolerant and compassionate you are, the less likely you would fall off the vegetarian or vegan wagon.

Visit those websites! They're worth your time!

posted October 28, 2008 10:25 PM         

By the way, I forgot to say what motivated me to become and to remain vegetarian is also because of the taste. Plant-based foods taste better to me, and I'm not talking about the mock products.

Check out those links and the books!

posted November 06, 2008 10:27 PM         

Their philosophy on the forbidden five spices would sound quite alien to Westerners.

posted November 22, 2008 10:43 PM         

Count spinach out- its oxalates contents is counterproductive for iron absorbtion.

Eat a variety of fruit and vegetables- grape, citrus fruits, dried fruits, such as raisin, apricot; dark green leafy veg, broccoli, tomato...

Tahini (black sesame paste)

Avoid zinc supplement which couteracts iron absorbtion.

Eat foods rich in vitamin C to enhance iron absorbtion.

The leavening of whole grain bread;

Soaking beans prior to cooking & eating them;

The fermentation of foods such as miso, natto, tempeh;

The sprouting of grains, seeds, and legumes;

The roasting of nuts

All the above helps iron absorbtion.

Other good vegetarian links:

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
www.pcrm.org

Vegetarian and vegan nutrition FAQ at PCRM:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/nutritionfaq.html

Vegan Outreach
www.veganoutreach.org

Compassion Over Killing
www.cok.net

posted November 22, 2008 10:49 PM           

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Their philosophy on the forbidden five spices would sound quite alien to Westerners.

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posted November 24, 2008 11:52 PM         

TINK,

Thanks for asking. It is indeed very foreign to Westerners. in Taiwanese Buddhist teachings, the five spices (traditionally called "five", but not necessarily "five")- garlic, onion, spring onion, red onion, leek, parsley...they say something like-

"Eating the five spices raw increases anger, while eating cooked five spices increases lustfulness."

Also

"Eating the five spices frequently, one walks among malevolent spirits frequently."

Sounds far-out, doesn't it?

The Taiwanese Buddhists simply obey those teachings, while being a non-Buddhist myself, I follow those because in an intangible way, I can relate to those teachings. "The five spices" happen to be the vegetables that make one's mouth stink after comsuming them. Although in Wicca and other Pagan spirituality, some of the "Five spices" may be very valuable herbs or botanics with specific definitions and specific properties, also recognized as nutritious by dieticians, I tend to believe that the Taiwanese Buddhist views on these vegetables make sense. Like I said, it's rather intangible how I tune into their beliefs, being a non-Taiwanese Buddhist myself. I do feel that the five spices activate the raw energy in a person, and makes the eater prone to feelings relating to rage.

But, to each their own.

posted November 29, 2008 10:02 PM         

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isn't it annoying when people say that animals are breed for death!?

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Animals are made of flesh and blood, like us humans. Animals are sentient beings, who experience joy, sorrow, fear, pain, who have their own individuality and they want to live their lives to the full and stay alive, too.

Maintaining ideal calcium status is not only about calcium intake, but calcium balance. Because while there is intake, there is also calcium loss due to various factors. Research.

I highly recommend this book:

"Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet" by Brenda Davis, R.D. and Vesanto Melina, M.S. R.D

A view on the animal ingredients existing in our daily lives:
http://www.caringconsumer.com/resources_ingredients_list.asp

"Animal Ingredients A to Z" by E. G. Smith Collective; available at
http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Ingredients-E-Smith-Collective/dp/1902593812/ref=sr_1_1/178-8874332-9744630?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228013222&sr=1-1

"Animal Free Shopper" by The Vegan Society; available at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Animal-Free-Shopper-Vegan-Society/dp/0907337317/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228013513&sr=1-2

D

posted January 04, 2009 10:30 AM         

I agree! So I think it's important for thoughtful people to oppose exploitation of human beings, too, by not buying foods mass-produced by exploitative corporations.

Also--if you buy packaged "vegetarian" foods made by the same companies guilty of factory farming and torturing animals--or their subsidiaries--you are keeping them in business, you might as well be buying their meat products. Ditto for fast food restaurants.

Make sure your food is produced by open-hearted people, and that no one (human or animal) is being tortured or exploited.

posted January 08, 2009 03:41 PM         

------------------
"The pioneers of a warless world are the youth who refuse military service."

posted January 19, 2009 10:19 PM         

Thank you for sharing your insight!

Vivid_child,

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One of my pet peeves is when people decide to convert to a vegetarian diet without research so cut everything out just like that. After naturally becoming ill because of a sudden change of diet they go about telling people how vegetarianism made them unwell

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Aptly put! And thank you for the positive feedback!

posted January 22, 2009 10:37 PM         

Thanks for sharing!!! And all the best with your efforts!

posted April 18, 2009 12:44 AM         

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I do eat something raw every day, and I watch it not to eat too much meat. I gotta say...who doesn't salivate slightly at the smell of bacon? Vegetarians lie when they say they don't.

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I haven't had the opportunity to get so close to bacon so I genuinely don't know if I would salivate at the smell of it. Even if I did, that does not mean I was born to eat meat. Besides, bacon is such processed meat, it does not really count. We should experiment with raw meat and boiled meat instead, and then ask us vegetarians if we still salivate at the odors of those. Not all of us vegetarians lie about our physical response to bacon- many of us are deeply disgusted by it.

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The Dalai Lama, eats meat despite the first precept of Buddhism, not to take the life of any sentient creature.

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According to the International Vegetarian Union, The Dalai Lama has attempted to go vegetarian several times. He is not by far the best example for the counterarguement for vegetarianism. His is an extreme instance.

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I still feel there are two creation stories in the bible. However I will not get into that here and its implications on the consumption of meat.
Note: LORD loves the smell of burnt flesh.
And hated Cain's vegetarian offering but loved Abel's offering of the fat of slaughtered lambs....

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That's quite self-contradictory for someone who defies the contents and validity of the Bible, and who has commented that the Christian God is a false god. Why would the words from a false god, in fact, by human authors- worth our references? To defy the Bible and yet also turning to the Bible to support flesh eating is just inconsistent. I don't mean to offend Christians or Bible believers, but the Bible is full of lies, distorting the life of Jesus, and not to mention the fictional Genesis, which is an enormous lie.

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Humans are after all Omnivores and therefore NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS.
Humans are neither pure Carnivores nor pure Herbivores.
That is a scientific physiological evolutionary FACT.

quote:
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om·niv·o·rous (m-nvr-s)
adj.
1. Eating both animal and vegetable foods.
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Even as newborns, humans best food is mammalian milk, from the mammalian mother human.

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A vegetarian is NOT a herbivore as the above statement says. Note the definitions of vegetarian and of herbivore:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbivore

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Herbivore

A herbivore is an animal that is adapted to eat plants and not meat. Herbivores form an important link in the food chain as they consume plants in order to receive the carbohydrates produced by a plant from photosynthesis.

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Vegetarians and vegans are NOT herbivores. Herbivores mainly consume grass and other plants which humans are unlikely to eat; whereas vegetarians and vegans not only eat vegetables, but also fruit, grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, dried fruits, plant oils and a lot more, which are not the typical diet for herbivores.

Yes, the best food for human infants is mammalian human mother breast milk, but that alone does not make us absolutely omnivores; mammals consists of both herbivores and carnivores, just because herbivores drink their mothers' milk before weaning, it doesn't make them flesh eaters. They are still herbivores. The same applies to human beings. We are mammals who drink our mothers' milk before weaning, but it doesn't make us pure omnivores. Diet is a personal choice for humans. Just because we are capable of eating flesh, it doesn't mean we don't have the choice to become vegetarians or vegans for various reasons, and for a better way of life.

Some people at LL have remarked that because we humans have canine teeth, hence we are natural born omnivores who are meant to eat flesh. However, please check John Robbins' "Diet for a New America", in which the human GI tract is compared to that of carnivores. Our human canine teeth are a great deal less sharp than those of carnivores- moreover, the GI tract of carnivorous animals are much shorter than the human GI tract, which enables carnivores to digest meat within a very short time, while it takes 4 to 5 hours for a human being to digest meat, and it takes only 1 to 2 hours for human beings to digest plant-based foods. Plant-based foods are evidently more suitable for human consumption than flesh.

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Perhaps we are still meat eaters because it is not yet time to evolve into Herbivores.

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Again, vegetarians and vegans are NOT herbivores.

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If all meat eaters on this planet became in time, Herbivores, it could spell serious disaster.
Even now, food crops take up alot of planetary acreage...and can it in reality handle a planet of all vegetarians?
And what of the animals raised now for food, leather and other products....and so forth?
Do we let them keep breeding and run free to destroy our crops and contaminate our water supplies? Do we let them go extinct?
What purpose would they serve?
And without natural predators to cull their over population?
Why would we want such animals or need them?
Yes...
a world without eating animals sounds quite pastoral.
But would it actually be so in reality?

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Such animals become pests and road hazards and infection/disease carriers if their numbers are not culled by hunters. They have few to no natural predators to cull their numbers.
They also contaminate and destroy our food crops.
So deer eats corn crop...
eat the deer.
Rabbit destroys cabbage and green vegetable garden...
eat rabbit.
Same goes for geese, wild turkey, ducks.....

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Once again, vegatarians are NOT herbivores. Overbreeding is entirely human-inflicted, and had the modern factory farms, zoos and circuses never been established, there never would have been such tremendous amount of farm animals. Nature has her way of balancing, she does not need human interference. Without human manipulation, animal overpopulation will never be a problem. The fact is exactly the contrary- had we all become vegetarians or vegans, along with adjusted governmental policies, we as humans can grow far more crops and other plant foods to feed ourselves, plus alleviating global hunger. Global hunger is exactly triggered by mass market demands for meat, the culprit for the destruction of the Amazon rain forest and other lands, not used to grow foods for us humans, but instead growing grains for feeding the factory-farmed animals, for whom are not their natural diet. Human starvation is the result of everybody wanting to eat flesh, and vegetarianism is not the potential cause of it, but the solution.

Many people ask "if we all stopped eating flesh, what could we do with all these animals?" It takes efforts, determination and creativity. Replace factory farms, zoos, circuses, other forms of animal entertainment (including race horses, race dogs, bull-fighting, **** -fighting and so forth) with animal sanctuaries. There are already some animal sanctuaries out there.

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The two times I seriously attempted to be a vegetarian, it literally almost killed me.
Ill is an understatement for what I experienced.
Some of us must eat red meat whether we want to or not.
Not going into medical reasons why, it is no one's business and complicated to boot.

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I have heard about your multiple medical conditions, though I'm not familiar with those. The best resource I can provide to individuals like you is to contact Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), formed by medical and health care professionals who are not corrupted by the mainstream medicine or nutrition, who are controlled by American/National whatever Meat/Beef/Dairy Associations. Whether you are interested or you intend to maintain your present diet, I think by contacting PCRM, it will be very informative, with up-to-the-minute advice, and breaks a wide spectrum of myths regarding vegetarianism/veganism and a diet with flesh.
http://www.pcrm.org/

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

5100 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Ste. 400, Washington, DC 20016

Phone: 202-686-2210
E-mail: pcrm@pcrm.org

D