Weird to be Vegetarian? How could this possible?

Question

Formally I was living with my parents in a government quarters. When my father retired, we shifted to a neighborhood which my neighbor is vegan. Their 5y/o & 9y/o children are also vegans since born. My parents often told me that vegans would not live more than 30 months. (Joke a side; this is what I learned before). But now I could see thru my own eyes my vegan neighbor is living much healthier than me. I’m not a vegetarian (certainly my parents are against this), nevertheless I even surprise to see there are also so called “raw” vegans living in the Y!A.

Is vegetarian antibody is stronger than a meat eater? Why some go to weird extension like vegans and raw vegans? How are they getting enough nutrition and food freedom?

(I’m new to Y!A. I’m not so good in English, so excuse me for the spelling/grammar error).

Answer 1

I can't speak for raw veganism because I haven't researched it much, but I don't see going vegan as a "weird extension" of vegetarianism at all.  When animals are treated as a commodity, they suffer and vegans are just choosing not to participate in that.  Personal health benefits are, for some, a reason to go vegan and, for others, a happy bonus.  I don't know of any studies supporting the idea that veg*ns have stronger immune systems, but there is evidence supporting the role of animal foods in disease production (see The China Study by T Colin Campbell) and veg*ns do have lower instances of heart attack, stroke, hypertension, obesity, type II diabetes and other "diseases of affluence."

As for nutrition, we get it by eating food.  Plain and simple.  To the people who wonder if it's possible to get everything we need without animal foods, I ask - which nutrients in particular are you worried about?  The fact is, there is a single nutrient (vitamin B12) which is difficult to get in sufficient amount from a plant-based diet.  For that, we eat fortified foods or take supplements; for the rest, we just eat good food.  There is a source (or a dozen sources) for everything else.

Food freedom is a funny one.  Globally, humans eat an enormous variety of plant foods.  Each individual can choose to limit themselves to what is traditional for their own culture, or they can choose to try a million and one different foods.  Personally, my diet is far more varied as a vegan than it ever was as a meat eater (when I was a picky kid) or as a vegetarian (who ate lots of processed convenience foods.)  My diet would be limiting if I let it be, but I don't.

Answer 2

hmm I'm guessing that vegetarians live longer in the fact that they have lower risks from getting diseases.

Answer 3

vegetarians and vegans have a 50% less chance of heart disease, and live 6-10 years longer than a person who eats meat. so yes, a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle is more healthy than eating meat.

Answer 4

That's interesting, who knows why your parents think that.  Some people are offended by vegetarians, but it is completely healthy (everything available in meat, is available from a non animal source).  There is also still alot of variety, I eat alot more variety of different and interesting foods since becoming a vegetarian than I did before.

Answer 5

I'm not  sure if the anitbodies are stronger or not. Some people choose to be because of animal welfare or for their health. There are many benifits. Vegetarians can get their protien from eggs, soy, nuts, and green vegetables.

Answer 6

There seems to be no end of myths about vegetarian/vegan (veg*n) diets (and they all get trotted out here on Y!A).

Well, the truth is that celebrated baby and child physician, Dr. Benjamin Spock recommended the vegan diet for all children and their parents in the last edition of his book. He himself went vegan in his later years and lost 50 pounds and was able to walk again then didn't die until he was 94. Turns out, ten years later, his advice is only more valid than before as those naysayer colleagues back then are finding out it is a much preferable and healthy diet.

http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/60...

Ironically, few doctors get any nutrition training and usually at best just a few hours. Basically what they learn is how to medically treat the results of poor diets. Most diets recommended, especially in the United States, are politically driven by industries to promote their products. The meat and dairy industries are huge and have big lobbying forces in effect and have had for years. Dean Foods for instance, which does Silk soy milk and many other brands, controls over 33% of the fluid milk market in the country and nearly all of it on the Eastern side. The Dairy Farmers of America is turning out to be rather corrupt taking money from farmers but supporting industry such as Dean Foods instead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/busine...

The Industrial Food Complex are who controls how the Food Pyramid shapes up and what gets recommended:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazi...

People in India (Hindu, Jains, Buddhists) have eaten veg*n diets for centuries in good health. Seventh Day Adventist have a veg*n mandate and raise many of their children on the diet quite healthily and happily (I was a nanny for a couple and the food was great). Jack Lalanne and his wife (currently 94 and 80 respectively) are pretty much vegan and raw foodists and they are and have been very healthy.

The plant-based diet is very healthy with less or no saturated fats, cholesterol, or the added hormones, antibiotics given to meat animals as well as an avoidance of the common meat related illnesses which include salmonella, e coli, mad cow and so much more (when veggie food is infected it has come from meat sources). Plants also have a lot that can't be obtained from meat or dairy which includes fiber, and many vitamins (those that are in meat usually come from plant sources and are not as rich or concentrated), phytochemicals and antioxidants/flavonoids and are also anti-inflammatory leading to less incidences of diabetes, kidney disease, arthritis, cancers, heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, etc., giving veg*ns a longer (and more enjoyable) lifespan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytochemic...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ant...

To explain "weird" extensions...

Vegan is an entirely plant-based diet shunning all animal products both for health, environment and especially animal cruelty since animals are subjected to some brutal conditions and treated as a commodity rather than a life to be respected.

Vegan lifestyles avoid all animal products including leather, wool, silk, honey, and products tested on animals.

Raw is an extension usually of veganism (although I have known those who eat raw meat -- even aged a few months old -- and eggs) and it is based on the enzymes in food which are destroyed by heat and micro/pro-biotics which are present most notably in yogurt, sauerkraut and kim chee. Those foods are almost pre-digested and beneficial to the gut flora bacteria we all have and could not live without because we would not be able to process our food. Raw vegans find they have incredible amounts of energy and there is even a couple films, one about reversing "incurable" diabetes with raw diets.

http://www.rawfor30days.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercharge...

http://www.culinate.com/columns/health+f...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_foodism

There is nothing in meat or dairy that can't be obtained from plant-based diets. B12 can be tricky (it's a soil bacteria and how animals obtain it) and it is best to be sure of it's intake with a minimal supplement once a week or so but the incidence of deficiency is still talked about in singularities because it is so very rare and usually related to a gene defect unrelated to whether the person is veg*n or not.

Protein deficiency which is what so many bring up is pretty much unheard of unless one is a starving child in Africa and then there are a number of other issues of which protein is just one. Seriously, when has anyone encountered a bonafide case related to lack of protein? However, too much protein is actually a serious problem in the West because of an excess of animal products which are hard for the body to process causing acidity which pulls calcium from the bones to counteract leading to bone weakening. Those countries with the highest animal and dairy consumption have the most osteoporosis numbers. Reality is most people in the world are either allergic to dairy or lactose intolerant.

https://www.msu.edu/~corcora5/food/vegan...

Further vitamin D is synthesized in our bodies from sunshine and not naturally found in dairy. It is added as a supplement from sheep lanolin. If a person doesn't get enough sunshine they should take a supplement as that is a most important vitamin and even with fortified dairy is not enough so why bother with them even if it's nutrition you're after?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D#G...

Nearly all foods other than sugar and some alcohols have protein. Green leafy vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts are good for calcium and iron as well as many other great nutrients and in fact are better sources than animal products.

http://library.thinkquest.org/20922/wher...

http://www.vsc.org/protein.htm

http://www.soystache.com/calcium.htm#Sou...

http://www.soystache.com/iron.htm

Finally, rather than being boring a veg*n diet tends to open up a person's food world like no other. Many talk about all the new foods they never would have tried otherwise but now love (I thought it was just me until recently but turns out it's a common phenomena):

http://www.vegsoc.org/news/2000/21cv/myt...

Even if you don't feel you could become a veg*n, you can add meatless meals/days to your rotation for instance by instituting "Meatless Monday" at your home:

http://www.meatlessmonday.com

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There are other benefits such as environmental and more. Most of the farmland in the Unites States and the world is dedicated to animal feed (leading to hypoxic dead zones in our oceans from the runoff) and water use for meat, dairy and egg production is astronomical (it's been compared to a year's worth of showers for a pound of beef).

http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4264

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekin...

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/sto...

http://grist.org/news/maindish/2006/02/2...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_zone_(...

And it's an ugly business and hard on employees:

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/08/03/u...

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/...

http://www.charlotte.com/poultry/

The selfish benefit is that a plant-based diet is often less expensive. :)

Answer 7

Why are your parents against vegetarians?

I'm a vegetarian and I've never done anything to them nor said anything bad about meat eaters in general.

Answer 8

Your parents are brainwashed by the meat promoting companies.  Vegans outlive even vegetarians provided they are eating a varied enough a diet!  Vegetarian antibody is stronger than a meat eater  cause no dead animal flesh is eaten!   Meat is death and you are what you eat!  Nothing wrong with Vegans they are smarter than even me a vegetarian cause they don't eat or drink anything from animals.. no dairy  no eggs!

Some vegan extremists leave out honey cause of bees!  I would say that is going a tad too far..but it's their choice!