The Atkins Diet. South Beach. Low fat. Low carb. Glycemic Index. Eating for your bloodtype. Diet is a four-letter word for sure. And last week, I saw an article posted by a friend - Why the Vegan Diet Sucks. I read the article and I agreed with some of it. Then, just for the sake of argument, I googled vegetarian support or something like that and found all the pro-veggie sites. I was shocked. Not because there aren't any, but because there's so much...passion is one word, militant craziness is another..out there.
The vegan-diet-sucks (VDS) article talks about how vegans are malnourished, that being vegan isn't any healthier than any other way of eating, etc. And that vegans use fear-mongering to convert people. Just as an aside, I'm not vegan. I love eggs and cheese and while I don't eat those foods in every meal, I do eat them daily and I don't think, from a diet perspective, that there's anything wrong with that. I also follow a vegetarian diet about 95-98% of the time, but I'm not perfect. Pigs are still dying in my name because I'm sorry, bacon is delicious. Anyway, on to addressing the article. Vegans are malnourished. Yes, it's hard to get certain vitamins - B12 for one - from an all plant diet. But how many of us are malnourished from the eating practices we currently have? A lot. Particularly if your diet, like my former one, was meat and starch heavy and veggie light. How many of us can say that we get every recommended serving of fruits and vegetables every day that we're supposed to have and get every nutrient and vitamin that we need in recommended amounts every day without use of a multivitamin? Some people, yes, but not the majority. So, pot, meet kettle. Vegans probably lack in some areas, but so do omnivores.
Veggie diets aren't healthier or better for you than any other diet. The article says that the health benefits can't be assigned to diet because eating this way encourages you to also skip processed foods and sugar and to start exercising. Oh the horror! I think that everyone, whether you give up meat or not, can exercise and give up processed foods. I have noticed, in my own life, that eating vegetarian has made me think outside the box and has forced me to make and try things that I normally wouldn't. I am BAD about getting stuck in food ruts. When I decided to try vegetarianism, I told myself that this was NOT going to mean that all I ate was pasta, potatoes, and cheese. That I would learn to eat and love beans, lentils, and vegetables outside of broccoli, peas, and corn. And it's working! I've made some pretty incredible dinners out of stuff that I NEVER thought I'd eat. So, in my own life, I'd say that it's made me a much healthier eater. Not a perfect one, but I have cut down my fast food consumption considerably (no options besides meatless salad and french fries) and we're eating more fruits and veggies than we ever have. Exercise is for another post. I'll also note two observations from my own experience - a meal based on whole grains and beans or lentils and veggies is FILLING. The other thing is that I can eat until I'm satisfied and I don't feel disgustingly full much more easily than I could when I was eating differently.
The fear-mongering. Ok, they have a point there. WHen I looked up pro-veggie sites, most of them were, um, enthusiastic about veganism. A lot that I found, thought vegetarians were too liberal. Almost all of it was animal-rights based. There's nothing wrong with loving animals. I can't afford to buy all my meat humanely raised, organic, with smiley chickens. So we bought regular chicken. We are lucky enough to be able to get beef from an actual farm, not Tyson, so that's a little better anyway. I was a little surprised that most of the sites weren't of the mindset that any reduction of animal consumption is good. To me, telling someone that reducing their meat consumption even if they aren't vegan is a step in the right direction for many reasons. But most of them definitely took the tone of "eat any animal and you're total scum." I think there's no need for that. If you want to convince people to do what you're doing, don't use fear tactics or the "you're a horrible person if you don't do X" argument.
So, bottom line? A diet used to mean a style of eating. Now we view them as these things we do to lose weight, and that's where the thinking needs to change. I didn't go veggie necessarily to lose weight. I actually started with it because of a summer class I taught, did more research and found out that a plant-based diet is better for your kidneys (animal protein is harder on them and you tend to eat way more protein than you actually need on an animal diet), and most of all, I just feel good. Also, I have eaten meat over the last couple of months occasionally. And meat just doesn't do that much for me. A good loaf of sourdough bread is very pleasurable. Meat just isn't for me - I realized I liked the condiments more than the flesh., so it's not a huge deal most of the time. For others, eating meat is pleasurable. So do what makes you happy in the healthiest way possible. Eat meat, don't eat meat, just don't bash the other side. Visualize whirled peas. :)
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