The Veg*n Poll

[MnFocus]

Originally Posted by rh77

Whatever I can get on the road, fast. I usually have some almonds for lunch, if I can. Otherwise, it's traditional meat n' potatoes here.

I admire those who can alter their diets for the betterment of not only themselves, but for the environment in-general. It can't be easy...

RH77

Honestly I'm in it for *me*-for the diet and health benefits first and foremost
, followed by environmental then humanitarian issues. I'll admit it isn't for everyone,and was an easy switch with a lil bit of guidance. It works for me and quite a few others . The key is balanced variety.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

... from what I remember, the researcher had found that the difference in food source allowed the Chinese in the study to consume more calories because of the way their bodies processed these calories...

Could it possibly the type of carbohydrate? It could very well be the same study -- but I remember reading at one time that calories from rice/day was something like a 10:1 ratio comparing China:US where the US used things like processed grains (breads and such)....

I don't wish to argue which is more healthy than the other - just ask some of the centurions what their diet it, it varies a great deal (one guy only ate/eats fatback and bread while another woman thought/thinks the secret was potatoes, milk and butter ).

Hugs for everyone

[unstable bob]

I've been doing a liquid diet lately...Molson, LaBatts, Rolling Rock, etc.
I know, I'm a goner...

[CoyoteX]

I eat mainly meat and veggies, never really liked bread or other wheat based stuff. Seems to work for me, 6'3 285lbs 38" waist. Almost back up to a 500lb deadlift, prob will get it in another 6 months.

When I tell one of the nutrition teachers at school how much and what I eat a day they seem to develop a nervous twitch

[lunarhighway]

as far as i know b12 is produced by a micro organism that happens to be very present in meat but not exclusivey. it also lives in the ground, and even in the human digestive system, only he body unfortunately can't take advantage of the B12 they produce. meat is just the easiers source of B12.

people used to get more b12 in the past as vegetables where much less cleaned after taking them from the soil and contained more B12 producing organisms.

that said it is a fact that being a vegetarian you have to make sure you eat a more varied diet to get all the esential building blocks you need ... than again wether you eat meat or not, you should do that anyway, meat contains many things that are bad for the body, so even when it can be quite healthy to consume some meat from time to time to much is definately bad for you.

anyway, i think everyone should figure out for themselves what's good for them, yet after 21 years as a vegetarian i still haven't found any good reason to turn back to meat.
in fact i keep finding more reasons not to eat it...

here's another thing to think about:

a kilogram of beef is responsible for the equivalent of the amount of CO2 emitted by the average European car every 250 kilometres, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.

http://environment.newscientist.com/...vironment.html

so checking out something vegetarian once in a while can help the planet more than turning of lightbulbs whenever you leave the room! (not that the later doesn't help as well of course)

[skewbe]

Eating a lot less meat than I used too, approaching zero. Wish there were more omnivore options.

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by unstable bob

I've been doing a liquid diet lately...Molson, LaBatts, Rolling Rock, etc.
I know, I'm a goner...

what about odrools low alcohol beer? is it still made?

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by lunarhighway

here's another thing to think about:

http://environment.newscientist.com/...vironment.html

so checking out something vegetarian once in a while can help the planet more than turning of lightbulbs whenever you leave the room! (not that the later doesn't help as well of course)

What's that compared to say... a kilogram of potato?

From the same article...

A Swedish study in 2003 suggested that organic beef, raised on grass rather than concentrated feed, emits 40 per cent less greenhouse gases and consumes 85 per cent less energy

And I liked grass fed because it kept their stomachs at normal pH level - less likelihood of getting sick and therefore less need for antibiotics

[MnFocus]

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

And I liked grass fed because it kept their stomachs at normal pH level - less likelihood of getting sick and therefore less need for antibiotics

hmmmm interesting.

[SVOboy]

This isn't directly related to your question, but it was the first, strongest source I found talking about the environmental aspects of eating low on the food chain:

Vegetables are a more efficient source of protein - 40 per cent of today’s world grain production is used to feed meat-producing livestock. Converting these cereals and grains to animal products involves significant loss of energy. It takes 5kg of grain to produce 1kg of beef. If meat consumption were lowered, more cereal grains and other food components might be used to improve the world’s nutrition.

Obviously, the grains may (but not always) have lower protein densities, but I could also find some information on the amount of plant protein required to make X amount of meat protein and it'd be shocking! Shocking I say...

Anyway, that's taken from some crazy hippy website: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/b...g?OpenDocument

EDIT: http://www.feedback.nildram.co.uk/ri...ays/veggie.htm Just another site with a bunch of stats on junk.

Grass fed beef may be nice in the sense that it does less environmental damage, but it requires a lot more room and isn't sustainable at all when considering the world's current meat habit. Then try to figure out what would happen if every country started eating meat like we do...think of the pollution problems that china would develop!