<p>Not me either, although I’m no great enthusiast about meat and poultry. But I wouldn’t want to cut fish, shellfish, eggs, and dairy products out of my diet. I like them too much.</p>
<p>I could never and would never want to stop eating meat. My doctor has told me to eat a diet that consists of things that have been in the human diet for the longest period of time. The rule is, if you couldn’t eat it a hundred years ago, don’t eat it today. 90% of the items in a grocery store have additives, preservatives, and other junk that has never been in the human diet. Food manufacturers are basically playing chemistry with the nations health. Did you know cancer is almost unheard of in Japan?</p>
<p>Killing animals for our pleasure? Please, every time you swallow you burn millions of organisms alive in hydrochloric acid that’s in your stomach. Death is a part of all life, how pretentious do you have to be to question nature, the earth, the universe, god, eterntity, or whatever you believe in? I have no problem with vegetarians or vegans, but they tend to get a little holier than though sometimes.</p>
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<p>And, conversely, leaving the pepperoni off the pizza doesn’t make it healthy either! 
It’s been nearly a year since I’ve had a pizza, although I’ve been thinking about making a pizza from scratch just as a carb binge change of pace. I could probably do it on a day when I have bacon and eggs for breakfast and no other carbs during the day. Probably better than an Italian sub for carb-day.</p>
<p>I’ve actually found that my diet has gotten much healthier going from vegetarian to vegan. I think because I know it’s a pretty restrictive diet, it forces me to be aware of what I’m eating and what nutrients I’m getting. Vegans are often pretty good about knowing what’s in their food and what their latest bloodwork said. Vegetarianism isn’t considered as restrictive of a diet and I definitely wasn’t as aware of what I was eating as a vegetarian. </p>
<p>I also have some really great cookbooks and I’ve had a lot of fun getting creative in the kitchen. I’d actually argue that unhealthy food is more limited (as a vegan, not vegetarian) because there’s less to eat. I can make excellent vegan cake and I know several places to get excellent vegan cake, but at the random office party I am not eating the cake. If I go into a coffee shop, I am likely not getting a pastry. If I happen to be in New York City, I know where to get good vegan doughnuts, but I’m not getting good vegan doughnuts in Boston. So if I need an afternoon snack at work, it’s probably hummus or fruit or something unless I managed to bring sugary snacks with me. </p>
<p>Of course, there are coffee shops that make vegan baked goods and I know exactly which sugary snacks I can buy safely from the vending machine (Oreos and Skittles) but my exposure to random unhealthy crap that I will actually eat is way more limited.</p>
<p>I do tend toward eating a pretty whole-foods, unprocessed diet most of the time anyway (I don’t own a microwave).</p>
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<p>Cancer is Japan’s leading cause of death, accounting for one-third of all deaths in that country.</p>
<p>[Cancer</a> in Japan](<a href=“http://www.jcancer.jp/english/cancerinjapan/]Cancer”>http://www.jcancer.jp/english/cancerinjapan/)</p>
<p>I am definitely not a vegan and I don’t eat cake, pastries, donuts, or sugary snacks (other than fresh fruit).</p>
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<p>[Cancer</a> Rates In The USA Compared To Japan](<a href=“http://healthhubs.net/cancer/cancer-rates-in-the-usa-compared-to-japan/]Cancer”>http://healthhubs.net/cancer/cancer-rates-in-the-usa-compared-to-japan/) indicates otherwise.</p>
<p>I’m definitely not saying that everyone not a vegan eats that stuff, nor am I saying that I never do. I’m just saying that it’s harder to fall in the habit as a vegan. If I really want a sugary pastry, I can go to a specific bakery or make it myself but I can’t just automatically grab something when I buy a coffee.</p>
<p>Interesteddad, thank you for clarifying that you meant over-consumption of sugars and simple carbs. That is a problem for both vegetarians and meat eaters.</p>
<p>That said–I know a LOT of vegetarians and maybe they are not ‘average’ --but they eat way less sugars and simple carbs than most meat eaters I know. I think it is because most of them have chosen to eat vegetarian for improved health, as well as for environmental reasons–and they tend not to eat any processed crap that’s out there, at least not as a mainstay.</p>
<p>I agree that too much sugar is as bad for you as too much animal fat (possibly worse than animal fat)–but I don’t think being vegetarian would automatically increase your odds of getting more sugars in your diet. Unless as some mention you only like potatoes and white rice and cereal bars—me, I eat real food!</p>
<p>I am not a vegan or vegetarian, but I enjoy eating many meatless meals. In fact, I have gotten my family to eat this way too and they don’t miss the meat every day.</p>
<p>I go overboard when making salads for myself, since I will make lots of concoctions that include lots of different roasted vegetables…and cheeses and nuts…</p>
<p>And I’ll also make lots of Hummus wraps with Provolone cheese and a ton of veggies</p>
<p>I do eat meat and probably always will, but I definitely can go several days on just veggies and carbs, fruits, beans, nuts, eggs, etc.</p>
<p>I make my own soups in the winter time so I can control the sodium, etc. and 99% of them are meatless, but with beans and veggies…</p>
<p>As for anyone worried about getting adequate protein on a vegetarian diet, that is not an issue for me. A while back I tracked my food daily to see how my various nutrient categories looked–I got plenty of protein whether I ate meat on a given day or not. I’m sure being vegan would be more challenging, but certainly not impossible.</p>
<p>Kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas (I love hummus, falafel, etc), almonds, peanut butter, avocado and dried apricots–plus unsweetened almond milk, barley, quinoa…and of course, I do eat some dairy and I eat eggs.</p>
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<p>I have to laugh at this. We are so “evolved” now that our boneless, skinless chicken and ground meat hamburgers from a drive-through would make a cheetah blush in shame!</p>
<p>Love, love, love veggies. </p>
<p>But have NO desire to become a vegetarian. I would never give up my eggs, yogurt, fish, chicken, and occasional beef item. And I will never part with cheese, though I could use less of it. I think we eat WAY too many refined carbohydrates, and the research seems to indicate that they are very responsible for many of the ultimately fatal health problems in this country.</p>
<p>Fwiw, vegetarians eat eggs and cheese and yogurt.</p>
<p>Currently one. Family is vegetarian but they didn’t care what I did and encouraged me to try meat. They gave it up for health reasons -> unsanitary, especially in their country of origin and they felt that it wasn’t necessary. </p>
<p>We eat a lot of ethnic food and vegetables and fruits and grains can taste surprisingly good, especially with some good spices. I am a little weaker than my peers in terms of muscle mass and the like but I think it’s just my type in general. Protein, I get from nuts and tofu and sometimes soy.</p>
<p>Skittles contains gelatin which is made from pork.</p>
<p>With regards to type 2 diabetes in India:</p>
<p>[Epidemiology</a> of type 2 diabetes: Indian sce… [Indian J Med Res. 2007] - PubMed - NCBI](<a href=“Epidemiology of type 2 diabetes: Indian scenario - PubMed”>Epidemiology of type 2 diabetes: Indian scenario - PubMed)</p>
<p>[India?s</a> Diabetes Epidemic Cuts Down Millions Who Escape Poverty - Bloomberg](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>It’s a combination of genetic factors and a lack of exercise. I think we do eat too much white rice sometimes but I feel that Indian food, done right, i.e. without a lot of oil (which is basically all the food you get at restaurants) is very healthy. Unfortunately, oil speeds things along and makes crappy food taste good.</p>
<p>When D2 was 12 and she told us she was going to be a vegetarian, we said OK but show us the numbers. She did a large chart of protein sources and how she planned on getting them, vitamin sources and the balances of types of food. We did our own reading and was ready for the presentation. I have to say that when she changed over it was impressive. She ate dramatically better than she used to, better than most of her peers, learned to cook and buy her own food at a much younger age than D1 did and prepared her own lunch and snacks. Wow she ate better than I did. It is 10 years now and I am still impressed by her ability to determine food choices, their contents and their content value. </p>
<p>On a side note- If you are ever in the neighborhood, The Chicago Diner is a really interesting mostly vegan/ some vegetarian diner that serves food you would swear is meat. It is very popular and unusually tasty.</p>
<p>At age 13 I became vegetarian, stayed that way when not in a cultural situation that necessitates meat eating, for many decades. Finally gave it up when the kids were young. They were sick of tofu, not thrilled with beans, one was allergic to peanuts, and I tried to avoid the fat and allergens in dairy. </p>
<p>I still prefer vegetarian eating, though appreciate the concentrated protein in fish and beans far more as the years go by. Years of contact with Asians have led me to enjoy a minor amount of pork or shrimp in many stir fries, so I’m a bit of a cultural melting pot in my approach to food. My personal revelation is that probably the worst thing out there for me personally, is wheat in it’s myriad forms. I continue to eat a produce centric diet, more or less avoid carbs, and not be too absolutist about anything.</p>
<p>Our entire family have reduced our meat intake over past year. It was first spurred on by my DS (to our surprise) so now we eat vegan/vegetarian during the week and on the weekend we allow ourselves a free day or two. We also juice every day (not blending).</p>
<p>Anyone can pretty much claim to be vegetarian, as long as they don’t eat meat, right? There are healthy ones and unhealthy ones.
(a) Healthy: brown rice, steel cut oats, beans, nuts, veggies, flax, etc.
(b) Unhealthy: fries, milkshake, donuts, fried dough, butter popcorn, nachos with cheese, soda, etc.
Perhaps the ones who are gaining weight, and have all sorts of health problems are the ones not eating the healthy diet. Plus exercise is impt.</p>
<p>Not all carbs are bad and if you eat the complex carbs with some healthy oils, it will slow absorption and reduce that insulin spike. The extra fiber from the complex carbs also helps with this. So I suspect that this may be the problem in India where they eat lots of foods made with white flour, white rice, ghee, and where many foods are fried and often oily. Interesting article and thanks for sharing ecouter!</p>