Recently there has been some buzz about vegans only dating other vegans, versus dating omnivores. This was a pretty funny topic, until it became apparent that some within the vegan community take this quite seriously. Thought being that to truly be a vegan you must only date other vegans.
What is the reality of only dating other vegans? With vegans accounting for only one percent of the general population it is not highly likely. Most people cannot explain what causes or does not cause an attraction between two people. Common shared interests are often a factor, but then again opposites often do attract as well. The choice to be a vegan is very personal. You cannot force this life style choice upon anyone. Often what has seemed to have happened over an extended period of time is that the vegan partner will slowly convert the omnivore over to their way of thinking. Most long-term vegans have become accustom to the idea of explaining the benefits of living a vegan life style. The benefits vegans create by not exploiting animals. How veganism improves the environment and the individual health benefits.
Ultimately dietary choices of who you date are not as important as helping others understand the importance of the vegan lifestyle. If the relationship is with the right partner they will respect and seek to understand what it means to be vegan. This is not to say that a either will be converting one from being an omnivore to a vegan, or a vegan to an omnivore lifestyle as relationships are not about changing one another but growing together.
Showing posts with label Vegan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vegan. Show all posts
Monday, February 22, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Surprise, Surprise
As of this month I have now been Vegan for four years. In looking back at the decision to make this change in my life I can say that I'm truly happy that I did. It really has had a positive impact in my life and overall health. Which has me now wondering why are so many reluctant or still strongly tied to the consumption of flesh.
I have been thinking about this a bit recently, especially noticing the amount of recalls that have been posted by the FDA & USDA sites. For the most part these go unnoticed by the mainstream consumer until there is a massive recall that makes the local news.
Food for thought, our health is largely impacted by what is put into our bodies. FDA closely regulates prescription medications, OTC products & cosmetics. The Red Cross has established requirements for who can and can not donate blood. Some of the requirements are as follows:
- Can not be pregnant
- Had a tattoo within the last 12 months
- Needle stick within the last 12 months
- Epilepsy seizures
- Visited an area with Malaria
- History of Hepatitis
- Having been in jail in the past 12 months
- Having syphilis or gonorrhea
- Have any risk factors for HIV
From that standpoint we watch what goes into our bodies. We would not find it acceptable to have blood transfusions or organ donations made if we thought that the original host was diseased. These types of incidents are rare and and few in far between for most in a given lifetime. Yet food that is consumed on a daily basis is given much less attention. Which I would think should be quite the opposite.
In contrast the USDA set regulation and policies of how meat must be inspected in order to suitable for consumption is much more lax than blood donation requirements. Current requirements state that animals must be disease free otherwise there is special handling requirements for dealing with the diseases animal. Keep in mind that does not mean that the animal will not be able to enter the food supply. As far as I can find cattle are only tested for the following:
- BSE - Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or Mad Cow Disease
- Bovine Tuberculosis
Beyond this the cattle do have to appear to in general good health. Yet, most cattle herds are infected with viral Leukemia and Johne's Disease and not tested for this and is not used as a requirement to determine suitability for food supply. Viral Leukemia appears in most bovine fluids such as milk that are consumed by the general population, and this is not eliminated by the pasteurization process. The rate of leukemia has increased 37% in the US since the 1960's. As for the Johne's disease it is the main suspected culprit of causing Chrone's disease and IBD in humans.
Is it a surprise that the general population is in such poor health? Is it surprising that the masses are looking for a national health care solution? I don't think so, yet very few take the time to educate themselves on how to improve health through diet and embracing a vegan lifestyle. This I do find very surprising.
I have been thinking about this a bit recently, especially noticing the amount of recalls that have been posted by the FDA & USDA sites. For the most part these go unnoticed by the mainstream consumer until there is a massive recall that makes the local news.
Food for thought, our health is largely impacted by what is put into our bodies. FDA closely regulates prescription medications, OTC products & cosmetics. The Red Cross has established requirements for who can and can not donate blood. Some of the requirements are as follows:
- Can not be pregnant
- Had a tattoo within the last 12 months
- Needle stick within the last 12 months
- Epilepsy seizures
- Visited an area with Malaria
- History of Hepatitis
- Having been in jail in the past 12 months
- Having syphilis or gonorrhea
- Have any risk factors for HIV
From that standpoint we watch what goes into our bodies. We would not find it acceptable to have blood transfusions or organ donations made if we thought that the original host was diseased. These types of incidents are rare and and few in far between for most in a given lifetime. Yet food that is consumed on a daily basis is given much less attention. Which I would think should be quite the opposite.
In contrast the USDA set regulation and policies of how meat must be inspected in order to suitable for consumption is much more lax than blood donation requirements. Current requirements state that animals must be disease free otherwise there is special handling requirements for dealing with the diseases animal. Keep in mind that does not mean that the animal will not be able to enter the food supply. As far as I can find cattle are only tested for the following:
- BSE - Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or Mad Cow Disease
- Bovine Tuberculosis
Beyond this the cattle do have to appear to in general good health. Yet, most cattle herds are infected with viral Leukemia and Johne's Disease and not tested for this and is not used as a requirement to determine suitability for food supply. Viral Leukemia appears in most bovine fluids such as milk that are consumed by the general population, and this is not eliminated by the pasteurization process. The rate of leukemia has increased 37% in the US since the 1960's. As for the Johne's disease it is the main suspected culprit of causing Chrone's disease and IBD in humans.
Is it a surprise that the general population is in such poor health? Is it surprising that the masses are looking for a national health care solution? I don't think so, yet very few take the time to educate themselves on how to improve health through diet and embracing a vegan lifestyle. This I do find very surprising.
Friday, June 26, 2009
My path to becoming Vegan
Everyone seems to take a different paths in life, none the less many of us end up in the same place throughout our journeys. For me it seems to be a natural progression that I’m now VEGAN.
My personal journey started way back when I was 14. I could not drink milk without getting violently ill. Tried Lactaid and other similar products, didn’t matter I would still get horribly sick. So I decided to just gave it up. At 17 I decided that I would be Vegetarian, this lasted until I was in my early 20’s and pregnant with my first child. I got pressure from EVERYONE I knew that I was not giving my baby enough protein. I broke and gave in. I ate meat. This really was a challenge for me. Have never been able to walk into a grocery store go in the meat section and buy a pack of meat. Trying to do this & deal with morning sickness it just was not happening. After that it seems as though I always had someone handing a piece of meat. Around the same time I also started to realize that I had a similar reaction to eggs as I did with milk. Ok, decide to completely cut out all the eggs as well. After having my first two children and finally regaining control of my body, I would go back and forth on being vegetarian over the next 8 years.
Right around the time I turned 30, I became violently ill and had to be hospitalized. I had a high fever and severe pains on my right side. Appendicitis? Nope. Gallbladder, no already had that removed. Docs had no idea really and I had rounds of tests to basically tell me the same thing. “No Clue what’s wrong with you.” Shortly after we moved from CA to the East Coast. Again I was getting violently ill. Went through seeing a few specialists, and having things such a Cancer, Crones, Colitis and a few other possible diseases were mentioned. Had several tests done, I did get a diagnosis of a chronic illness but nothing close to what was originally being mentioned & it didn’t really explain all my symptoms. Ended up with some prescription medications and was also told to “Eat a high fiber diet, so lots of veggies, and Omega 3’s so eat some fish too. Oh, by the way your body can’t seem to handle red meat so avoid that.” At this point I’m eating lots of veggies & fish, no red meat, no milk & no eggs. Yet I still was getting these bouts of being sick. Each time I would get sick for 2-3 days at a time. Very frustrating because I never knew when I would get sick and what caused. Started to realize that I seemed to also have a sensitivity to sulfates. It became a must for me to read all labels and really watch what I would eat.
Since I travel for work, I also found that restaurants have milk & eggs hidden in all sorts of food and then there always seem to be product that would have undeclared dairy and the like. At this point it seemed that every few months I was back at the doctors office getting tests and different prescription. Then the unexpected happened, because we had tried for five year and had given up. I was pregnant with my third child. The medication I was taking had a warning, so I stopped taking it immediately. Problem was soon as I would stop taking it I would become sick again. Part of my first questions to the OB/GYN was what medications were safety to take for this condition during pregnancy. None. OMG, so what do I do? No real answers. Started doing lots of research online. Found some articles saying that a vegan diet could eliminate my most of my symptoms. How hard could it be? It only meant eliminating fish & chicken from my diet. Then came the concern of getting enough protein for the baby. Made several calls to my insurance to request that they approve a visit with nutritionist. Even being pregnant & with my other medical condition I didn’t qualify. I was determined not to cave this time. Back to the Internet for more research. I was able to get through the pregnancy on vegan diet and no medication without becoming sick again. Then I was breastfeeding so I continued on. After that I realized that I did not want to be on prescription medicine the rest of my life for some thing that I could easily control with this type of diet. Which is ironic since that is the industry I’m in, but I digress. I have now been following a vegan diet for the last 3 years or so. Finally starting to feel like I did before I started to get seriously sick.
Most of this change was initially around what I ate, now I have slowly started to look at all the other aspects of my life. Surprisingly the hardest things for me to give up have been honey & leather shoes. I have been working on this, and have eliminated the honey. Still working on the shoes, but it has been at least six months since I purchased a pair of leather shoes. Almost there!
My personal journey started way back when I was 14. I could not drink milk without getting violently ill. Tried Lactaid and other similar products, didn’t matter I would still get horribly sick. So I decided to just gave it up. At 17 I decided that I would be Vegetarian, this lasted until I was in my early 20’s and pregnant with my first child. I got pressure from EVERYONE I knew that I was not giving my baby enough protein. I broke and gave in. I ate meat. This really was a challenge for me. Have never been able to walk into a grocery store go in the meat section and buy a pack of meat. Trying to do this & deal with morning sickness it just was not happening. After that it seems as though I always had someone handing a piece of meat. Around the same time I also started to realize that I had a similar reaction to eggs as I did with milk. Ok, decide to completely cut out all the eggs as well. After having my first two children and finally regaining control of my body, I would go back and forth on being vegetarian over the next 8 years.
Right around the time I turned 30, I became violently ill and had to be hospitalized. I had a high fever and severe pains on my right side. Appendicitis? Nope. Gallbladder, no already had that removed. Docs had no idea really and I had rounds of tests to basically tell me the same thing. “No Clue what’s wrong with you.” Shortly after we moved from CA to the East Coast. Again I was getting violently ill. Went through seeing a few specialists, and having things such a Cancer, Crones, Colitis and a few other possible diseases were mentioned. Had several tests done, I did get a diagnosis of a chronic illness but nothing close to what was originally being mentioned & it didn’t really explain all my symptoms. Ended up with some prescription medications and was also told to “Eat a high fiber diet, so lots of veggies, and Omega 3’s so eat some fish too. Oh, by the way your body can’t seem to handle red meat so avoid that.” At this point I’m eating lots of veggies & fish, no red meat, no milk & no eggs. Yet I still was getting these bouts of being sick. Each time I would get sick for 2-3 days at a time. Very frustrating because I never knew when I would get sick and what caused. Started to realize that I seemed to also have a sensitivity to sulfates. It became a must for me to read all labels and really watch what I would eat.
Since I travel for work, I also found that restaurants have milk & eggs hidden in all sorts of food and then there always seem to be product that would have undeclared dairy and the like. At this point it seemed that every few months I was back at the doctors office getting tests and different prescription. Then the unexpected happened, because we had tried for five year and had given up. I was pregnant with my third child. The medication I was taking had a warning, so I stopped taking it immediately. Problem was soon as I would stop taking it I would become sick again. Part of my first questions to the OB/GYN was what medications were safety to take for this condition during pregnancy. None. OMG, so what do I do? No real answers. Started doing lots of research online. Found some articles saying that a vegan diet could eliminate my most of my symptoms. How hard could it be? It only meant eliminating fish & chicken from my diet. Then came the concern of getting enough protein for the baby. Made several calls to my insurance to request that they approve a visit with nutritionist. Even being pregnant & with my other medical condition I didn’t qualify. I was determined not to cave this time. Back to the Internet for more research. I was able to get through the pregnancy on vegan diet and no medication without becoming sick again. Then I was breastfeeding so I continued on. After that I realized that I did not want to be on prescription medicine the rest of my life for some thing that I could easily control with this type of diet. Which is ironic since that is the industry I’m in, but I digress. I have now been following a vegan diet for the last 3 years or so. Finally starting to feel like I did before I started to get seriously sick.
Most of this change was initially around what I ate, now I have slowly started to look at all the other aspects of my life. Surprisingly the hardest things for me to give up have been honey & leather shoes. I have been working on this, and have eliminated the honey. Still working on the shoes, but it has been at least six months since I purchased a pair of leather shoes. Almost there!
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