Vegetarianism

[shep854]

It doesn't help either that the current American diet is still based on that of a pre-industrial manual worker. When one works hard (physically) 10-14 hours a day, fat doesn't have much chance to accumulate. Observe high-level athletes when they retire; while competing, they consume prodigious amounts of food. It's pitiful what they turn into if they don't drastically curtail their eating when they retire. I remember reading about the first Great American Bike Race, which was from Las Angeles to New York in five days; competitors burned around 1000 cal per hour. One competitor simply shoved as many calories (of any sort) down that he could, while the others followed "scientific" diets. Mr Junk Food won.

 

As for motivation to amend one's eating habits, "The Ambulance Ride" for a possible heart attack focuses one's attention wonderfully (to mangle a 'proverb').

 

In his "Aubrey-Maturin" series, Patrick O'brian often used the term "digging your grave with your teeth" when referring to Aubrey's eating habits. I think about it a lot.

[shep854]

Slightly adrift from veggies, but examples of going to extremes:

 

http://health.msn.com/weight-loss/articlep...9&GT1=31036

 

The basic ideas are good, but gimme a break!

[Daan]

and what the hell are chicken paws?

 

Since nobody has recognized so far what I meant there, I guess my translation of the Dutch word 'kippenpootjes' was erroneous. Perhaps 'chicken legs' or 'chicken lower extremities' would have been more appropriate. Anyway, I mean these things:

 

 

[Ivanhoe]

I think we are in terms of what is needed - and western meat centric diets are linked to health complications beyond merely being fat. Who knows if that is the meat or crap they put into the meat though.

 

You missed the point. I'll try again. It is not the quantity of meat, per se, it is the fat, salt, and grain baggage that comes along with the fast food (including microwave dinners) diet. Replace all that hamburger, breading, hydrogenated corn oil, salt, etc with lean unadulterated meat (even red meat) and things will look entirely different. But we have a corn-based diet; corn-fed livestock (resulting in much higher fat content than grazed), hydrogenated corn oils, and breading.

 

A lot of that has to do with the fact that low carb invariably leads to eating more fiber - which is food volume that isn't do anything for you fuel or building block wise.

 

Fiber does indeed impact your basic nutrition. Along with the apparent benefits concerning intestinal cancer and similar diseases, it impacts the absorption rate of sugars and starches, generally flattening out glycemic load effects. Insulin controls the blood sugar engine, and non-carb contents helps alleviate blood sugar swings and thus insulin.

[ShotMagnet]

The basic ideas are good, but gimme a break!

My favorite was the air diet.

 

 

Shot

[Corinthian]

Re: chicken claws, we call it "Adidas" here.

 

But Daan's pictures show the drumstick, not the claws (i.e., feet).

[shep854]

I came across this slideshow describing the source of several food additives; some are insect-sourced, others microbial. Interesting, but not disturbing to a small town/country boy. Enjoy, and be enlightened:

 

http://health.msn.com/mens-health/slidesho...7&GT1=31037

[APF]

It takes a while to acclimatize to any sort of major diet change as well - beans and the like aren't easy to digest[..]

 

In my experience beans (and cabbage) are much harder on your surrounding (coworkers etc.) than for yourself

 

As the saying goes "Jedes Böhnchen macht ein Tönchen" (something like: Every bean a small steam)

 

Greetings

[APF]

[...] In order to have an adequate intake of iron, vitamines B2 and B12 I (and my parents and siblings) do take one vitamin pill a day. And yes, you do really have to take care that your diet is balanced. For example, when my sister started to menstruate she collapsed several times. Why? Iron-deficiency anemia. Of course, carnivorous girls also suffer from such faints, but the risk to vegetarians is a bit higher. The anemia was rapidly remmedied with iron pills from the GP and a closer attention to iron containing vegetables.

[...]

 

Hi Daan. Nothing personal, but just about every time somebody tells me that there's a very healthy way to live *as soon as you just add one or two pills a day* I fell a strange sensation in my legs, as if somebody started to pull...

 

That being said, I know I should eat more veggies and fruits, but the thing is you can do perfectly well on, say, 5 Euros/day on bread, milk, cheese and meat but you will likely need the double amount of money if you want to live on a veggie and fruit based diet.

 

Not to mention that preparing and eating bread an sausages needs less time than preparing for example a cabbage.

 

Greetings

[Ssnake]

According to life insurance records, vegetarians have a slightly shorter life expectancy - but they die healthier.

[APF]

According to life insurance records, vegetarians have a slightly shorter life expectancy - but they die healthier.

 

Ah yes, death has always been a sure sign for great health

 

Grinnings

 

[Edited for grammar]

Edited March 6, 2009 by APF

[Ssnake]

Well, it's a question of quality of life maybe. Do you prefer being miserable for a long time or feeling great for a shorter duration.

 

Having said that, vegetarianism that also meets the standards for diversity and great taste seems to be a bit more costly than meatianism, on the household level. In other words, those who can afford it tend to be better off. Being better off usually means that you spend more on health care, which could in turn lead to a better quality of life despite a vegetarian diet. But, I simply don't know enough about it. I like meat, and I don't like the associated hassle of a vegetarian lifestyle. I don't mind a meal without meat though, if it is tasty.

 

 

I'm PETA member ... People for the Eating of Tasty Animals.

[SALADIN]

I have noticed that my Indian vegetarian friends tend to be of a smaller build than the meat eating Indians .Dont know whether it is related to diet or something else completely unrelated.Anyone know of any scientific studies done?.

[Ssnake]

It seems that a higher calory intake at childhood tends to result in larger bodies later. This is why in Europe since WW2 the average male has grown from about 1.72m to now 1.85m approximately. In later decades it just adds flab, though.

 

From a biological point of view this makes sense. The larger you are, the less aptitude in martial arts are needed to overwhelm an opponent (or prey) in hand-to-hand combat, the fewer natural enemies you have.

 

Shrinking habitats tend to shrink the animals in them as well, not necessarily reduce their number. This is why there are dwarf elephants on Java or somesuch. This seems to be another feature that preserves a higher genetical diversity of the specie's gene pool.

Edited March 7, 2009 by Ssnake

[Dave M]

That has nothing to do with my point which is that meat laden diets of any sort (a seperate issue from the "baggage" that comes with it in a general western context) is a health concern. If you were to replace all of that poorly prepared meat with un-adulterated red meat you would still see a host of health problems - significantly less severe mind.

Its still not usable in terms of providing you with energy or tissue building materials which helps explain the volume to "nutritional value" in terms of calories and protiens. Also insoluble fiber - which is the structural building block is really the source of the high volume of vegetables in the first place. I'm not saying its useless per se.

 

I would LOVE to see any supporting evidence for that...

[Marek Tucan]

(including microwave dinners)

 

Hey, what against MW dinners? Recently started doing vegetables in MW oven, pretty quick way to prepare 'em and they keep more good stuff that way than by boiling 'em

Edited March 7, 2009 by Tuccy

[Ssnake]

My favorite was the air diet.

A "no air" diet works quick and efficiently. After three minutes of this diet you'll lose the feeling for hunger and your body will assume a stable state with a gradual weight loss (and NO regains). Downsides are rigor mortis, a transient bloating of the belly, and bad smell. But that wears off after a while. Oh, and reduced activity levels and responsiveness. Ideal for couch potatos, though.

Edited March 7, 2009 by Ssnake

[shep854]

A "no air" diet works quick and efficiently. After three minutes of this diet you'll lose the feeling for hunger and your body will assume a stable state with a gradual weight loss (and NO regains). Downsides are rigor mortis, a transient bloating of the belly, and bad smell. But that wears off after a while. Oh, and reduced activity levels and responsiveness. Ideal for couch potatos, though.

 

WELL SAID, sir!

[ShotMagnet]

A "no air" diet works quick and efficiently.

Is it a diet if you die from it?

 

Not eating at all would seem to qualify, if that is indeed the qualifier.

 

 

Shot

[Ssnake]

Is it a diet if you die from it?

Of course not, but the first three minutes you're not dead yet.

[APF]

Is it a diet if you die from it?

 

Most certainly:

 

1) You will loose weight (depending on your belief the whole body's left behind).

 

2) After all diet is just a misspelling which somehow made it into the dictionary. Correct spelling - at the time men still were men who had to do whatever a man has to do - was died.

 

Greetings

[FlyingCanOpener]

Hey, what against MW dinners? Recently started doing vegetables in MW oven, pretty quick way to prepare 'em and they keep more good stuff that way than by boiling 'em

 

I'm sure he meant prepared frozen dinners that you microwave, then devour.

[swerve]

Not to mention that preparing and eating bread an sausages needs less time than preparing for example a cabbage.

 

Greetings

I don't think you can say that grinding wheat into flour & baking it into bread, butchering an animal, washing out the guts, mincing up a filling & stuffing it in is quicker than going out into the garden, picking a cabbage & dropping the leaves into boiling water for a few minutes.

[Marek Tucan]

I don't think you can say that grinding wheat into flour & baking it into bread, butchering an animal, washing out the guts, mincing up a filling & stuffing it in is quicker than going out into the garden, picking a cabbage & dropping the leaves into boiling water for a few minutes.

Erm, sausages don't grow on the shelves of supermarkets?

[Dave M]

Google any of the plethora of studies on excessive intakes of animal protein, meat in particular. There are similar studies for milk. I'm not going to hold your hand for easy seminal research like that. Hell, if you haven't read studies like that I don't really think you're in any position to have an argument on diet in the first place.

boo-hoo. let me go to my corner and cry a bit.

YOU made this claim, YOU stand behind it. please bring CERTIFIED article, like ones likely to be found on PUBMED. something whose experimental setup can be reviewed. otherwise, YOU have got no foundation to begin with.