Why I choose to go vegano.
Well again, I guess you didn't see that one coming. Or maybe you did. Maybe I only think I am shocking, but really everyone already knows me really well and is like yea, yea, what's new?
I have been a vegetarian for about 16 years of my life. I still remember the turning moment in a restaurant in Herkimer, NY on a school field trip, 7th grade, 12 years old, I was eating chicken fingers and I suddenly felt ill. I was only eating chicken at the time, because several months to a year before that I had given up all meat but chicken. I put the chicken finger down and thought I will never eat meat again.
I know many people have had similar experiences in their life and then choosen a healthier lifestyle for it. Now here comes the fun part. In 16 years do you know how many times I have been approached with the following:
"Where do you get your protein? You eat chicken don't you? Do you drink milk? Do you eat cheese? Then what do you eat? God made animals for us. We have been eating animals since the beginning of time. Chickens are ugly they should be eaten. You kill plants don't you. I could never be vegan, I like cheese too much. If no one ate cows, they would become extinct. You must feel tired a lot. Veganism is too extreme, vegetarians are ok. Can you eat this? Why are you a vegan??"
Oh it's been fun, what's been the most fun is how much my story has changed in all that time. At first I was brought to the doctor as a child and told about the "dangers" of not eating meat and how I could become anemic, and too skinny, etc etc...Then at the age of 16, I was miraculously diagnosed with gallbladder disease which was incredibly uncommon in women who were pre-menopausal, fit or in shape and hadn't had children. I was obviously none of those in fact I played on four sports teams, danced and ran every morning before school. So what did they do? Blame vegetarianism, it must of been because you lost too much weight, you don't drink enough milk, you aren't getting the right protien, what are you eating? They took out my gallbladder, parts of my liver and did two invasive surgeries. I spent my summer in the hospital instead of field hockey camp. Then I developed chronic pancreatitus, which again is SUPER uncommon in anyone unless they are obese and have high blood pressure....and I was suddenly restricted more in my diet, I was told never to eat anything high in fat again, no more french fries, pizza, fried mozzerella sticks etc.
Ok fine I said. And life went on, as a vegetarian. (I'm glad I didn't listen). I continued my happy veggie life all through college while my roommates scarfed down fast food and dining room meat. I baked potatoes, made pasta, salads, veggie burgers and learned about tofu.
The years following college rocked, when I learned what the inside of a grocery store looked like, how to use an oven properly and the abundance of vegetables, fruit and easy to eat vegetarian foods there were out there. But always I got the same question, why are you a vegetarian can I ask? Is it for health reasons? Are you religious? I was embarrassed sometimes, I never knew really why, but I always answered the same "No, I'm not religious, I just don't like to eat animals, I feel its wrong."
I liked them too much, they were cute, they didn't need to die for me to feel full. So life went on. Then I moved to Chile, and things such as veggie burgers, tofu, hummus, asian food, fake hotdogs and soy milk disappeared, it was difficult to find the standards without going to special markets. So what did I do?
Started cooking. A lot. They don't sell hummus in the store here but I have become a pro at making it on my own, I have made black bean burgers, pumpkin burgers, spinach burgers, I have made soy milk, tahini paste, wheat dough, curry, pad thai, tofu scramble, etc ALL from my kitchen. Every week I go shopping and I buy the same basic ingredients, any fruit and vegetable in season, an abundance of carrots and potatoes, my favorite. Brown rice, wheat pasta, wheat flour, and an abundance of dried beans. Black beans, lentils, garbanzo beans, peas, nuts, granola, quinoa, you name it, I got it. I started to adept a vegan diet without realizing it. I didn't drink milk anymore, cheese always gave me a stomach ache and is expensive and I grew up with parents that didn't believe in cooking with butter. Besides eggs, I almost never ate animal products. I started to LOVE cooking. It has become such a hobby, I think about it, plan it, look forward to it, as much as running, writing, traveling, and dancing are parts of my life, cooking is a huge stable. I always loved to cook but now it's an obsession, at least once a day I decide to create something new. The coolest part is it's all from scratch, I haven't eaten nor purchased processed foods in a year.
Then I read this book. "The China Study"
http://www.thechinastudy.com/
And my life was changed again.
The book details the connections between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes and cancer. It examines the source of nutritional confusion produced by powerful lobbies, government entities, and opportunistic scientists. The New York Times has recognized the study as the "Grand Prix of epidemiology" and the "most comprehensive large study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and disease."
This paragraph was mostly taken from the book as I couldn't think of a better way to really describe how utterly powerful and moving the findings are from this study. Over 25 years of research went into a study that looked at the foods we eat and their connections to heart disease, cancer and many other diseases. The main connection, animal products are the number one cause. I also really enjoyed the book because the last 100 pages describe in detail why this news, as ground breaking as it appeared to me, "hey we found the cure to cancer, diabetes, MS, heart disease, etc!" are not on the cover of every major newspaper, why we don't have like a bulletin going across the television, it seemed as I was reading the book and slowly cutting out the rest of the animal products that I used to eat, that as soon as people hear this news, it will be incredible! I mean these are the worst feared things in everyone's life, to be diagnosed with a life threatening illness or watch someone you care about fall victim to it. Here in 400 pages in describes in great detail how you have control over your life, and your future and its SUPER SIMPLE. However, reality soon sets in, and you may even be in this category as you sit here and read my little post, the whole "yea right, meat has been around forever, I like cheese to much to give it up, there is no way that milk is bad for you or causes cancer and you can't believe everything you read" category.
Here is my ONE plea to you, if you, as a human being, care even a little bit about your health, your life, and the life of the people that you love, you will read this book. You will read the book from cover to cover and then make your own decisions. I can't tell you in this post why it's so powerful and I don't expect it to get too much attention, but it will answer every question you have, every doubt you are experiencing right now and explain a lot of things I never took into consideration, one for example. How to think that the big push to drink milk for the last 28 years of my life could have come from a dairy company, not because it was based on good research that showed that calcium from animals was good for you, but rather a company that wanted to make money. Well now that's just crazy! Milk is good for you, yet, after several thousand research studies have shown, that the calcium in dairy actually has the opposite effect that we all believe, that too much calcium from dairy actually may cause bone weakness! I know, you don't want to read anymore, its crazy. It's like I just said the holocaust didn't happen.
People are set in their ways, I will stop talking but I ask you to read the book. Buy it, borrow it, find it somewhere and read it. (Then I bet you 1,000.00 it will change your life).
I have been a vegetarian for 16 years because I choose to, I have been a vegan now for about 3 months because I choose. I am currently training for my third marathon, I have played on 10 different sports teams, broken a school record for track in high school, been thin but strong my whole life, bike to and from work everyday, go to pilates twice a week, swim during the summer, work 10 to 12 hours a day and call it good genes or not, but have good skin, no major illnesses and overall a TON of energy. So, no I am not weak, starving, on my death bed or anemic from lack of protein. I would say quite the contrary. Food is an integral part of my life, something I absolutely love, from picking it out, to preparing, to serving it, to eating it. Now I am happy knowing that the choices I make will make a brighter, longer and healthier future for me. Now the challenge to get my loved ones on board, that will be the bigger issue. It's beginning slowly here in Chile and has had good results.
Thanks for reading and happy eating.
I have been a vegetarian for about 16 years of my life. I still remember the turning moment in a restaurant in Herkimer, NY on a school field trip, 7th grade, 12 years old, I was eating chicken fingers and I suddenly felt ill. I was only eating chicken at the time, because several months to a year before that I had given up all meat but chicken. I put the chicken finger down and thought I will never eat meat again.
I know many people have had similar experiences in their life and then choosen a healthier lifestyle for it. Now here comes the fun part. In 16 years do you know how many times I have been approached with the following:
"Where do you get your protein? You eat chicken don't you? Do you drink milk? Do you eat cheese? Then what do you eat? God made animals for us. We have been eating animals since the beginning of time. Chickens are ugly they should be eaten. You kill plants don't you. I could never be vegan, I like cheese too much. If no one ate cows, they would become extinct. You must feel tired a lot. Veganism is too extreme, vegetarians are ok. Can you eat this? Why are you a vegan??"
Oh it's been fun, what's been the most fun is how much my story has changed in all that time. At first I was brought to the doctor as a child and told about the "dangers" of not eating meat and how I could become anemic, and too skinny, etc etc...Then at the age of 16, I was miraculously diagnosed with gallbladder disease which was incredibly uncommon in women who were pre-menopausal, fit or in shape and hadn't had children. I was obviously none of those in fact I played on four sports teams, danced and ran every morning before school. So what did they do? Blame vegetarianism, it must of been because you lost too much weight, you don't drink enough milk, you aren't getting the right protien, what are you eating? They took out my gallbladder, parts of my liver and did two invasive surgeries. I spent my summer in the hospital instead of field hockey camp. Then I developed chronic pancreatitus, which again is SUPER uncommon in anyone unless they are obese and have high blood pressure....and I was suddenly restricted more in my diet, I was told never to eat anything high in fat again, no more french fries, pizza, fried mozzerella sticks etc.
Ok fine I said. And life went on, as a vegetarian. (I'm glad I didn't listen). I continued my happy veggie life all through college while my roommates scarfed down fast food and dining room meat. I baked potatoes, made pasta, salads, veggie burgers and learned about tofu.
The years following college rocked, when I learned what the inside of a grocery store looked like, how to use an oven properly and the abundance of vegetables, fruit and easy to eat vegetarian foods there were out there. But always I got the same question, why are you a vegetarian can I ask? Is it for health reasons? Are you religious? I was embarrassed sometimes, I never knew really why, but I always answered the same "No, I'm not religious, I just don't like to eat animals, I feel its wrong."
I liked them too much, they were cute, they didn't need to die for me to feel full. So life went on. Then I moved to Chile, and things such as veggie burgers, tofu, hummus, asian food, fake hotdogs and soy milk disappeared, it was difficult to find the standards without going to special markets. So what did I do?
Started cooking. A lot. They don't sell hummus in the store here but I have become a pro at making it on my own, I have made black bean burgers, pumpkin burgers, spinach burgers, I have made soy milk, tahini paste, wheat dough, curry, pad thai, tofu scramble, etc ALL from my kitchen. Every week I go shopping and I buy the same basic ingredients, any fruit and vegetable in season, an abundance of carrots and potatoes, my favorite. Brown rice, wheat pasta, wheat flour, and an abundance of dried beans. Black beans, lentils, garbanzo beans, peas, nuts, granola, quinoa, you name it, I got it. I started to adept a vegan diet without realizing it. I didn't drink milk anymore, cheese always gave me a stomach ache and is expensive and I grew up with parents that didn't believe in cooking with butter. Besides eggs, I almost never ate animal products. I started to LOVE cooking. It has become such a hobby, I think about it, plan it, look forward to it, as much as running, writing, traveling, and dancing are parts of my life, cooking is a huge stable. I always loved to cook but now it's an obsession, at least once a day I decide to create something new. The coolest part is it's all from scratch, I haven't eaten nor purchased processed foods in a year.
Then I read this book. "The China Study"
http://www.thechinastudy.com/
And my life was changed again.
The book details the connections between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes and cancer. It examines the source of nutritional confusion produced by powerful lobbies, government entities, and opportunistic scientists. The New York Times has recognized the study as the "Grand Prix of epidemiology" and the "most comprehensive large study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and disease."
This paragraph was mostly taken from the book as I couldn't think of a better way to really describe how utterly powerful and moving the findings are from this study. Over 25 years of research went into a study that looked at the foods we eat and their connections to heart disease, cancer and many other diseases. The main connection, animal products are the number one cause. I also really enjoyed the book because the last 100 pages describe in detail why this news, as ground breaking as it appeared to me, "hey we found the cure to cancer, diabetes, MS, heart disease, etc!" are not on the cover of every major newspaper, why we don't have like a bulletin going across the television, it seemed as I was reading the book and slowly cutting out the rest of the animal products that I used to eat, that as soon as people hear this news, it will be incredible! I mean these are the worst feared things in everyone's life, to be diagnosed with a life threatening illness or watch someone you care about fall victim to it. Here in 400 pages in describes in great detail how you have control over your life, and your future and its SUPER SIMPLE. However, reality soon sets in, and you may even be in this category as you sit here and read my little post, the whole "yea right, meat has been around forever, I like cheese to much to give it up, there is no way that milk is bad for you or causes cancer and you can't believe everything you read" category.
Here is my ONE plea to you, if you, as a human being, care even a little bit about your health, your life, and the life of the people that you love, you will read this book. You will read the book from cover to cover and then make your own decisions. I can't tell you in this post why it's so powerful and I don't expect it to get too much attention, but it will answer every question you have, every doubt you are experiencing right now and explain a lot of things I never took into consideration, one for example. How to think that the big push to drink milk for the last 28 years of my life could have come from a dairy company, not because it was based on good research that showed that calcium from animals was good for you, but rather a company that wanted to make money. Well now that's just crazy! Milk is good for you, yet, after several thousand research studies have shown, that the calcium in dairy actually has the opposite effect that we all believe, that too much calcium from dairy actually may cause bone weakness! I know, you don't want to read anymore, its crazy. It's like I just said the holocaust didn't happen.
People are set in their ways, I will stop talking but I ask you to read the book. Buy it, borrow it, find it somewhere and read it. (Then I bet you 1,000.00 it will change your life).
I have been a vegetarian for 16 years because I choose to, I have been a vegan now for about 3 months because I choose. I am currently training for my third marathon, I have played on 10 different sports teams, broken a school record for track in high school, been thin but strong my whole life, bike to and from work everyday, go to pilates twice a week, swim during the summer, work 10 to 12 hours a day and call it good genes or not, but have good skin, no major illnesses and overall a TON of energy. So, no I am not weak, starving, on my death bed or anemic from lack of protein. I would say quite the contrary. Food is an integral part of my life, something I absolutely love, from picking it out, to preparing, to serving it, to eating it. Now I am happy knowing that the choices I make will make a brighter, longer and healthier future for me. Now the challenge to get my loved ones on board, that will be the bigger issue. It's beginning slowly here in Chile and has had good results.
Thanks for reading and happy eating.
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