Unfortunately, I don't have any advice for you. I too am always skeptical of cutting out whole food groups. I'm all for eating better and healthy living - but like you said, what about low-fat dairy and fish. I don't think I'd get by without those.
DH may not like my comment, but I am a meat eater and I also fall in the camp of everything in moderation. We are primates evolved to eat many types of food, and require a complex diet with variety. I was vegetarian for a short while (about 6 months) largely based on animal rights issues more than health issues, but because I am an extremely picky eater I found it difficult to get adequate nutrition. But that's just me, my point is that I do not dismiss no-meat or alternative diets out of hand. Also, I want to say that N and I have both noticed that friends or acquantices we know that have been vegan for a good length of time have developed a gaunt, aged look to them (see Michael Diamond Beastie Boy). I admire this life choice, but don't necessarily believe it is healthy. Veganism is particularly limiting and I can only imagine how time consuming and difficult it would be to get balanced nutrition, particularly for athletic folks. If he's based this on reading one book, perhaps there is other research that clarifies drawbacks. I mean everything has two sides. I am just suggesting that all sides of the issue be examined closely before forcing a decision to be made.
Also, how can dairy foods lead to osteoporosis? I am very high risk for this condition (mom and sister) and so had a bone density baseline last year. Unbelieveably I have above-average bone density, and my doc and I talked about diet. I told him I take a multi-vitamin but not a calcium supplement, but I eat quite alot of dairy. You know what he said? "Keep it up!"
I was a pesco-ovo-lacto vegetarian since 1998 and for about a year or so tried to be vegan (which was hard because I love honey, and breads and such -- yeast is out if you are vegan.) Recently, though I decided to go back to eating a little bit of meat in my diet (my fiance reintroduced me to the delights of real Chinese food -- like dumplings). I think any diet is good as long as your body takes to it (some people just can't be vegetarian -- their bodies really require animal protein).
One thing I learned while being vegetarian is that for women, the phytoestrogens found in soy products can have a negative effect on our endocrine systems. Cutting out all dairy, then, may not be the best thing for us.
Change is best done gradually. Maybe if you both can compromise and do one or two vegetarian meals per week first, you might find out what is best for you.
I have since added a little bit of chicken to my diet and even though it was strange after so long to eat it, I felt like I had more energy that I have had in a while.
I can't really help you - I'm an unabashed omnivore...
There are definitely benefits to eating more fruits and veggies and less meat. But I fail to see how any diet that excludes entire food groups can be healthy. Homo sapiens evolved as an omivore. That means they eat everything. Whatever is handy. Might be berries today, fish tomorrow, nuts the day after etc. So cutting out entire food groups seems shortsighted to me. Perhaps some more research is warranted? I would say that changing your whole lifestyle based on 1 book is a little hasty. Perhaps the next book should be something that investigates the Mediterranean diet?
I agree with alot of what is said above. I went vegetarian for a short time while I was living with vegetarians. I think while there is something to be said about eating more fruits and veggies, being vegan and still getting what your body needs can be incredibly difficult. Not impossible, but difficult.
Besides, studies tell us something different every day. Eggs are good, eggs are bad, milk is good, skim milk is best, margarine will kill you, and red wine will help you live forever.
I would agree with the "everything in moderation" philosophy - and that goes with turning vegan. It's a huge change.
I'm an omnivore, but a very moderate one. I eat a small amount of meat (not even every day), and a small amount of dairy (which I'm not convinced anyone actually needs, but I don't think small amounts are harmful, either). Lots of grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables. But I wouldn't go vegan. Not that it can't be done safely, but you have to be *very* careful to get enough iron and you'll need to suppliment B-12 somehow, since it's essential for health and is only found in animal sources. I'm just not convinced that we were made to be vegan, especially when there are so many things that are difficult to get enough of without any foods of animal origin.
Now, how to transition to vegetarian and more vegan is something doable. Go out and look for foods that you enjoy that fit the bill - falafel, one of my favorite foods ever, happens to be vegan. Cool! Experiment with lentils and dals (I can recommend some great Indian cookbooks if you need) and beans, going slowly at first so your body and tastebuds adapt. Try making veggie sushi (which is seriously yummy!). Find soup recipes and play with them. You'll find there's a lot out there that's really delicious. Oh, and I highly recommend "Vegetarian World of the East Cooking" by Madhur Jaffrey - almost every recipe is sooo good.
I was a vegetarian for seven years, a vegan for one, and I became much, much happier when I started eating meat! I think a vegetarian lifestyle is a great idea and worth at least trying out- in the beginning, your body goes through such changes. It was so strange to feel myself craving good things, and I did feel healthier. Now I eat like a truck driver on a long ride, but when I open a menu and know that I can eat anything in front of me, it fills me with joy. It's all about priorities, I suppose. Good luck!
I've been vege - 8 years - now I'm a confirmed meat eater. I'm with most everyone else...everything in moderation.
A bit of a long post here, Jen:
A lot of what you wrote about is true: more fruits and veggies, reducing processed foods, fats, and sugar, are better for your healthy; eating dairy and meat in moderation is fine. There isn't anything wrong with eating meat and dairy (I'll spare you the moral arguments), what's really the problem is all the hormones, additives, preservatives, and other chemicals being added to our foods that makes for unhealthy eating. If DH is still interested in vegetarianism and other related topics, I'd point him toward John Robbins' Diet for a New America and The Food Revolution.
I was vegetarian (not a hyphenated vegetarian, but an actual one) for 18 years; vegan for 2 of those. I didn't really eat a lot of meat to begin with, and I always liked my veggies, so it was easy for me. Tofu is always good, and there are several types of soy preparations that can easily substitute for meat. I say "was", because in the last 3 months we've added turkey, fish and eggs. It's kinda hard to maintain a vegetarian diet here in Germany, with all its butter and meat, but we're eating in moderation.
I haven't any real guidelines for transitioning into vegetarianism, because you're resistant. If anything, start looking at labels and buy only things without preservatives or additives (what the hell is "natural colors and flavors" anyway). Buy organic; buy local as much as possible. It's a start; that should at least pacify DH.
As to Jillian's stating that her doctor advised her to keep up her calcium intake through dairy, I'd have to reply that he's qualified to make an opinion about her body's functions, not her diet. I'd advise a nutritionist. There are other options to dairy for calcium. It's not that diary foods lead to osteoperosis, it's the intake of too much calcium. This from a nutritionist friend, who isn't a vegetarian.
PS: Climbing in the German Frankenjura is fab! Must send pictures one of these days...
I'm agreeing with most people here. Best to base a big decision on more than one book, and there is no reason why the household as a whole has to convert because one person has. I'm an omnivore and live with a pesco-vegetarian (or whatever the best word for that is!). Tolerance of other people is the key issue, whatever they eat, and that should run both ways.
First off, yeast is a fungus and is not out for vegans - many vegans eat nutritional yeast in addition to the many things that we normally eat yeast in.
I've been vegetarian (ovo-lacto, although I really don't eat much in the way of milk and I hardly ever eat eggs except as an ingredient in bread) for 18 years now. I can't imagine ever going back to eating meat, but that's just me. I think diet is a really personal thing, but you *can* have a healthy vegetarian or vegan diet, and being vegetarian really isn't any harder to do healthily than eating meat - vegan does take a bit more work.
As for meat at every meal, my family never did this even though they all have eaten meat their whole lives. If you look at the food pyramid and what a "serving" of meat is, even that doesn't allow for large servings of meat at every meal.
There are many foods that qualify as main courses that don't contain meat - you just have to find them and what works for you. Try dishes with beans, tofu, or even the many meat substitutes that are out there today. There are plenty of good vegetarian cookbooks out there (Moosewood for starters), and quite a few good vegan ones too.
Hi MJ! While I feel a doctor can makes statements about nutrition, a nutritionist can also play a vital role, depending on their training. But in that context he was actually making a comment on my body's function, in so much as to continue doing what I was doing, as my body seemed to function very well with it in terms of bone density. I realize now that way it was written it could not read that way.
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