So I’ve been vegetarian about a month and a half now, and I’m confused!
I’m not finding it that hard at home, cooking is easy, eating out is not! I have had to think outside the box but it’s fine and we’ve had some lovely interesting meals! Discovered leeks and artichokes which I quite like and some nice pastry dishes
But now I’m wondering if I’m doing the right thing? I’ve not noticed a health difference, of course I know that it’s still early days, but I have been trying to do my homework and some of the anti meat information out there is too off the wall and or the science is just wrong!
I think the biggest difference I have found is using almond milk in my cereal rather than cows milk, my tummy hurts a lot less, there is waaaay less incidents of I need the toilet NOW! So I will be keeping that up!
Aside from that I have managed to come to some conclusions
• Yes if you have the time, the energy and the will you can have a healthy vegetarian diet.
• I could probably never give up eggs! I am also very suspicious of egg replacements which seem to be used in lots of vegan recipes, I like my food to be something I could gather or harvest or kill myself if I needed to!
• I have decided that ethically I can’t deal with eating commercially farmed Chickens, or Pork, ethics wasn’t why I got into this but we really do treat them awfully! Beef in the UK and Ireland I am ethically ok with (not in the US) and I never really liked lamb anyway. Other meats I would deal with on a case by case basis, for example venison I am fine with shot wild or from my friends farm cause I’ve seen they treat their animals well. Wild Rabbit also fine with and I want to look up whats the deal with commercially available duck.
• I have also decided that as a society we are eating too much meat, nevermind if it’s good or bad to be veggie, I think it’s bad to eat sooo much meat and for it to just be the thing you thoughtlessly throw into a dinner to bulk it up.
• I have also decided that there are a lot of people on both sides of the debate that wont listen to the other side. Which makes actually finding out the facts difficult! The vegetarians are considered crazy tree hugging hippies and the meat/dairy industry and the government are considered liars that are just in it for the money. The problem is I can see both sides being right and wrong!
So I’m trying to decide do I stay vegetarian or do I consider having some beef every now and then, is there actually a good reason that health wise I should stay off meat? Or am I in fact robbing my body of essential vitamins and proteins?
Help and opinions please! Has anyone any personal experience? Does anyone know any good science that leans either way?
Personally I believe that a balanced diet should include the widest variety of foods (unless allergic/intolerant).
ReplyDeleteI agree that most farmed meat in many countries is not treated humanely. Manufactured 'meat' and egg 'replacements' are scarily non-natural for me.
Without a good amount of planning and time, most people won't get the protein their bodies require without meat/eggs/some dairy.
Add a little back into your diet and see how your body reacts. That is the best way - always listen to your body.
I must see if I can find almond milk here! Although, I'm not sure how it would work in coffee/tea...
Ye I'm thinking I'm going to eat a little beef, staying away from the chicken and pork, but try go back to some beef and see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteYou can make your own almond milk if you want just google it. I haven't tried it though since I can get it easy enough in supermarket and health shops.
Thanks for your good wishes. On the veggie front, I have always thought that I would not miss eating meat and could happily be a vegetarian, but cooking for and eating with other people kind of makes it awkward to do. Presumably our bodies all react differently to different things - mine hates to be stuffed full of starchy carbs! xC
DeleteI know what you mean about all the carbs, I'm trying not to just do that but that ends up meaning cheese which is probably worse!
DeleteThe boy has played along pretty well,I've tried to be reasonable, things like curry he can still put the chicken in just not cut up so that we can easily make sure he gets it all, and he can have rashers and sausages etc.
But I think I'm going to go back to the beef!