| KungKras said: If you just want to be healthy, you should eat meat once a week, kind of like our ancestors did. It's unhealthy to cut it out completely. I eat meat more often than that, but I like to go for vegetarian dishes every so often, simply because many of them are delicious. |
What "our ancestors" did varies wildldy from one part of the world to the other. There is evidence (including fossilized feces) that a lot of ancient humans ate essentially no meat at all. It's perfectly healthy to cut it out completely, there's absolutely no nutrient, and absolutely no health benefit, that is exclusive to meat. But there is a lot of disease that's closely associated with it.
| SuaveSocialist said: I tried going vegan but it's really hard to keep up over the long term, and for some people you become underweight and lose some strength. Going vegetarian though was a really healthy choice for me. Various spices and sauces can give variety to even the most rudimentary dishes and crushed chick peas can mimic the texture of meat if you prepare it right. A good way to go vegetarian is to reduce your meat consumption to a quarter-size of your usual portions--this way you can get a feel if you're making the right decision for yourself and it helps prevent any digestive troubles one might get from radically changing their diet. Word of caution: if you go without meat for a long time, your digestive system won't tolerate it well if you eat a lot of it in one sitting. It isn't fun feeling cramps and farting all night. I recommend talking to a Doctor about how to go about it so you can make the transition to vegetarian/vegan (and back again) in a way that's healthy for you. A dietician can even make a meal plan based on those recommendations. Once you're used to it and know the routine, it's awesome. |
Becoming underweight on a vegan diet suggests you're simply not eating enough. My weight has hardly changed from when I was an omnivore, but I make sure I eat a varied diet that has enough of the right kind of calories, and I time those calories for what seems the most advantageous time(s) of day. I have found it not hard at all to keep up, but I'm a meals-in-minutes kind of person. Lunch today was leafy greens topped with broccoli, quinoia, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and a seed mix (buckwheat, hemp, sesame, flax, and chia). Super nutritious, incredibly varied, very tasty, and super easy to make. It's virtually identical to one of my favourite dishes as a vegetarian, except I swapped out the cheese for nutritional yeast and the seed mix.
| iceland said: I'm lowkey pesco pollo vegetarian, needing meat for protein is a lie we've all been indoctrinated into believing. Plenty of plant based options for you, not to mention a lot of meat substitutes out there, you don't even have to really change your lifestyle that much. Don't be a raw vegan though  No enjoyment in that |
I am not a raw food vegan, but I nonetheless eat a lot of raw. As an example, pre-soaked chia (to make it more bio-available), raw coconut, rolled out, and chocolate vegan protein powder is my go-to breakfast, and to me it's the most delicious breakfast I've ever eaten in my life. :)
