Aw I know that, that's why I said I'd try it out anyway. Hey I just watched a 1960s anti-propoganda video and it turned out to be relevent (though as propoganda it's pretty lame, no-one dies or goes insane!) Anyway, this is why SWIM became veggie:
http://www.youtube.com/w...J8X8&feature=related

I decided never ever to eat dead animals again, when i was about thirteen years old. I realy think that becoming a vegetarian was a good choice for my physical health, besides a good ethical choice.
I have become completely adapted to this lifestyle. The first year was hard, i remember i often craved for meat. But nowadays i cannot even stand the smell of almost any meat product. Recently though, my sister decided to become vegetarian also, and she couldn't cope with it. I have no explanation for the difference between her and me, in this. You have to take care of getting the right amount of proteïnes and fatty acid's. To me this has become a second nature, but my sister obviously suffered from a shortage in some essential goods, whether it was vitamins, proteïns or fat, i don't know, but she had a hard time coping with it and even became a little ill.

I am so glad this thread was started. In the past when I've asked vegetarians about whether anyone ever has problems with it, they always disregarded that possibility and just feed one the dietary information as if one were just lazy with their diet and nothing more, which is insulting. It's nice to hear that SWIM wasn't the only one.

The Vegetarian Society actually said on their website that ANYONE can follow a vegetarian diet healthily. It was because of this statement that he tried, and when it didn't work out, he was so angry with them for helping him ruin his life that he considered sueing them. Of course, he didn't bother, because he didn't think it would be practicable or even possible to medically prove that the diet was what made him ill. Even though the burden of medical proof should be on the claimer of such factoids.

Maybe you should have asked for a blood-test or something. It might have been just one little component. Imagine that you would have easily been able to cope with it if only you'd have eaten some walnuts once a week or something.

I love the taste of blood.

This wasn't me, it was SWIM. He did have blood tests and everything they tested for was normal. So whatever was missing, they don't test for it.

I think some people are just not meant to be vegetarians.. I dont know if that is SWIY's case but its possible..

The most important is to respect one's body/intuition..I for example dont drink milk anymore, as I felt it was doing me bad somehow, and had this intuition specially during a pharmahuasca trip. I had quite constantly this... ahmm.. forgot how you call it, when it seems that the acid from the stomach comes back up to the throat a bit... Anyways since I stopped drinking milk I didnt have this anymore and feel better in general.

I've been a vegetarian for about 5 years, and my fiance` for about 6. She was a vegan for little over a year. Neither of us have ever had any health problems. I take vitamins everyday and I gotta have my fish oil or I go crazy.

Come to think of it, sometimes I eat shellfish.

It's sad that the torture of animals a pretty well known topic, yet nothing seems to change.

[quote=endlessness]

haha this reminds me of the days when I listened to punk rock.. check out these funny lyrics from a song from them:



NOFX Rules the LAND!

Ive been veggie for nine years now and i found I'm very healthy, even before i was veggie i mainly ate fish and chicken any way. I don't eat eggs though due to the killing of all the baby boy chicks its so damn sad.

I hope to become totally vegan in the future, its just really hard to become totally vegan in my country as there is almost nothing available for vegans. Yip its funny i converted Mr and now hes been veggie for almost seven years now and he wouldn't ever go back to eating meat



Much Peace and Happiness

The transition from alcoholic, addict, chain-smoker to sober, non smoking vegan was a natural process that started the morning after some physical trauma that was the result of some serious folly. Putting all moral issues aside, from a health aspect I know something is right about it, I have a much stronger presence of dopamine floating around. Very calm and peaceful yet energetic. I sleep easier and my digestive system/metabolism seems pretty flawless and regular.

Oddly enough I can really enjoy the smells that come in my window from my neighbors when they smoke and BBQ though it don't cause any cravings.
2 thumbs up.

I wouldn't call myself a vegetarian, but my meat intake dropped mostly because I couldn't afford it anymore, and most of what I could afford was processed crap.

Luckily though this got me off my ass and now I have a bunch of chickens that give me eggs every day and now and then I can kill one for the meat. I even went out and met a dude that raises cows and sometimes he lets me barter eggs for meat! Though if it wasn't for beans and rice I'd have a lot harder time keeping myself healthy.

Money becomes a serious issue here. I was lucky to have to time to raise my own meat, but some people are stuck in the system and have to play the game to get any sort of food. Processed frozen meat is the cheapest and don't forget those 1 dollar hamburgers you can get without even stepping out of your car. And that is the main reason I can't stand the stuck up vegetarians (not saying y'all are, I dig what most of you have to say). Be glad you can make the choice to not eat meat, some people can't and don't ever hate on them for it.

P.S: to any of those who prefer to avoid the system but still want meat, chickens rock. Also rabbits that get in your garden make a good stew

Eating plants is pretty cheap when you take into consideration that nutrients are for fuel and not for fun. $20 for 30 days worth of B12 & Calcium. $10 for 30 days of breakfast (Oatmeal) Peanut butter and jelly lunch with an Emergen-C and for a dose of iodized sodium you can have a V8. The idea is you shove it in your mouth and you swallow it and it makes you be alive and taste is besides the point. Sadly one of the few people I can get to agree with me is Hitlers ghost.

I've recently become a vegetarian.

A year ago this would have been impossible for me, and in fact I mocked and scorned my friend who went vegetarian. Then I went traveling for a year, spending several months in Bangladesh and India. At times I didn't eat meat for 6 weeks, and I stopped missing it. I realised that it is possible to quit your addiction to meat. I made the statement that I wanted to do this in mid-January and since then I've been mulling it over. Then I had a trip (2ci combined with 5-meo-mipt) and that crystallised it for me. I felt complete union with nature, and felt like the time was right to stop eating meat. When the trip was over I ate some chorizo and I didn't enjoy it. So for me, it's not about forcing myself off meat, it's about no longer wanting it.

My reasons are pretty simple:

- I don't want to eat the flesh of an animal, and I don't want to be part of death on any level. I also disagree with the global meat industry. It's part of my desire to live a harmless existence with complete respect for all living beings. Yes humans 'naturally' eat meat, but we are also self-aware and have a consciousness, hence we can make a choice about what we eat. To compare humans to animals is a strawman argument because we aren't driven by instinct. We have a concept called death which is meaningless to most animals.

- The environment/global food shortages. So much land is given over to grazing animals that could be given over to crops. Also, the meat industry contributes around 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. I feel that as a private individuals I can't do much against climate change, except to recycle where possible, use public transport. Becoming a vegetarian is probably the biggest statement I can make.

- My health. This is a controversial subject I know, but according to my research it is a healthier option, particularly for my heart - I already have high blood pressure.

Ultimately though, I think it is about empathy for animals. This is a personal choice for me and about my relationship to the world around me. As far as I'm concerned everyone else has a right to make their own choices, and if they are happy with them, then that's fine by me. I had got to the point where I wasn't happy eating meat.

here you 'll find a lot of materials about the hygienist approach to alimentation:
www.drvaldovaccaro.com.hk/articles.htm

Basically human beings are born fruitarians, eating every two hours, like monkeys.
We have not biological tools ( enzymes, gut) to digest and expell safely the meat.
Milk and diary are the same : and caseine act as glue for your intestinal villi (which are not as hairs but like thin pages) .
See for example how much it 's difficult to wash away the milk traces from the pot you warmed it: you have to brush hard using a lot of water (*). Citruses can dissolve these deposits.

The animal food becomes quickly toxic in our guts, which are too long for a rapid transit of it.

Coocked food has other problems: 1. leucocytosis, means that after the meal the immune system produces a lot of white blood cells like when reacting to a patogen's attack; 2. the Angstrom radiation drops under 6500, which is the average healthy value; 3. enzymes and lots of vitamines are destroyed. Leucocytosis can be limited or avoided chewing for long togheter raw vegetables and coocked food (*).
Furthermore baked carboidrates (cereals, coffee, nuts, chestnuts, potatoes etc coocked or fryed over 120 ° C) develops acrylamide, a very ( very!) toxic substance, the same who gives the pleasant aroma of baker.

Lack of proteins not exists among nutritional deficiencies : as in the mother's milk, humans need no more than 15% of proteins in their meals (the common percentual found in vegetables) or their blood becomes too acid.

To basify the blood the human organism uses carbonates, mainly the calcium of teeth and bones when acidity rises.

Supplements are poorly absorbed, their bio-availabilty is almost zero. Then salts deposits are difficult to expell. Even a glass of water is not of easy and immediate elimination! Minerals and vitamins are useful only when in the ionic forms inside the vegetables. Supplements usually are dead materials, with very low Angstrom vibrational charge.
Magnesium chloride is far better absorbed transdermally (*).

That is in synthesis what you'll find in the articles i linked above but I added some of my own discoveries, signed with (*).
I do not agree completely with all said there, but it is worth to know.
Moreover I think - for those having a political and ethical sensitivity - certain bold alimentation choices are an important step
to "drop out " from the decadent and expoliating establishment we live in.

Im vegan, and I eat all raw foods. Most of what I eat is just raw fruits and vegetables and I drink wild spring water. I have phases where I eat raw nuts like cashews, and sesame seeds, hemp seeds..I dont eat peanutes ever thought. After a couple of weeks of adding in nuts thogh I cut them out for a while and go 100% fruitarian because I have never in my life felt as good as I do as a fruitarian. I eat a bit of fermented miso as well for probiotics but I buy organic miso that is not cooked after it is fermented and I dont cook it at all I just warm the water.

I havent had a cold since I went totally raw about 7 months ago now which is a new thing for me. I had the flu once at the start but it was gone within like 20 hours. My hair and fingernails even grow faster now.

I believe that protein deficiency is a myth. There is no proof of it at all if you eat proper ammounts of fruits and vegetables.

Trust me, this is freaking easy as hell. I have a 100% raw food, vegan cheesecake in my fridge, made with vanilla pods, cashew, bananna, raw cacao, agave, dates and a few other things. If you ate it you wouldnt believe that it was raw or vegan, or that it was not bad for you at all. Once you learn to prepare food this way I believe anyone could do this. It is more $$ thought.

Sorry I don't have time to read the whole thread at the moment, I'll comment further when I do.

For Now:
I'm coming up on 8 years as a vegan. It's not easy but it can be done.

A few helpful hints on staying a healthy veg:
Sea vegetables are your best friend they contain many vital trace minerals that your body needs to function.
Phytoplankton is the only legit vegan source for some long chain essential omega fatty acids not available in other plant sources like hemp and flax that people usually get from meat.
A vegan multivitamin is essential.
Dark green leafy veggies also contain many essential nutrients and should employed daily.
Mushrooms are a great healthy replacement for meat and all those fake soy and gluten meat-like products.

More important that being vegetarian or vegan or making any kind of large shift in your diet is to eliminate the chemical poisons, preservatives, artificial colors and flavors and other nasty additives that "food" is filled with these days and work toward a diet with moar healthy whole fruits ,vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, beans, and grains.

I dont believe that multi vitamines or supplements are essential. I think that is a myth sold to the vegan community so people can sell you something..although, I do agree that for some diets they are necessary. If you eat alot of raw fruits and vegetables, lots of berries, seaweeds etc you should not need supplements. I have not taken a vitamine or supplement in about a year.

It is the same with protein. You dont need it at all. You need amino acids..this is another myth sold to vegans so people will run out and buy rice protein powders and similar products. All the amino acids needed to build muscle are available in raw fruits and vegetables. Protein in simply a middle man and the body expends energy to break it down into simpler amino acids before it uses it.

My point is that with a vegan diet that really fills all of our nutritional needs we should not require supplements. I have met alot of vegans who dont eat that way though and probly should take supplements. I believe that we evolved in tropical forests as fruitarians and so we can thrive on such a diet just fine.

Sea vegetables are good I agree and I eat a ton of seaweed for the iodine content.

Spirulina is also very good stuff. I'm a vegetarian and i don't take any vitamins or other supplements except spirulina. I know it sounds weird, but you can mix spirulina powder in smoothies and that realy tastes great.

I've largely been a vegetarian for the last 2 years now. I'm not perfect with it. I do consume some fish and on rare occasions i'll have other meat. However the longer i go as vegetarian the hardrer it is to digest meat...primarily red meat.

I do eat a very balanced diet, and we ( my wife and I) both take vitamins even though8'd easily conceedthat we don't need most of them. The longer I go with a good diet the better i feel.

Why?

Treating animals like crops is simply immoral to my mind. There is a huge difference in my mind between the Indian that kils brother deer for food and joe down the street that goes to the store and buys ground beef for tonights burger.

I also realize the social programming aspect of peoples diets and therefore i don't overly blame people for eating meat. I do hold them accountable for their actions, but I dont blame them. When they begin to question everything in their lives including those things that society holds sacred is when they will question their personal involvement in animal death farms.

As i said we are not perfect, but we are very aware of minimizing our involvement in factory farming.

Beyond that it is simply way healthier to be a vegetarian....but yes you have to beaware of what you are eating.

I don't know what's true and misinformation, I am not a certified nutritionist. But as someone who has actually lived this lifestyle for a significant amount of time, I found certain supplements (especially a multivitamin) are necessary for maintaining my own nutrition, health, and wellness. We are all different so I won't venture to speak for what anyone else's body needs.

The body is an amazing thing.I mean people live for decades off big macs and cokes, so yes you can live just fine without any supplements but personally I learned that I do need them to maintain optimal health.

All we can do is work within our own diets and find what works for us. I will say over all these years, I have learned that supplementing is important for my own health and I would advise anyone who is working with these alternative diets to pay special attention to these things within their own lifestyle.

Make sure to talk to a doctor or a nutritionist before making any drastic dietary changes and do plenty of your own research.