How Not To Die

[TheMarlin]

I honestly do not believe that a Vegan diet is healthier. I’m a vegetarian, have been for nearly 40 years. I rarely eat any processed foods, everything is cooked fresh from fresh ingredients.

My daughter is a Vegan, and a Chef. She works in a well known Vegan restaurant in Scotland.

The amount of processed fake meat and Seitan she works with bothers me. The various meat substitutes on the market are processed to hell and back.

I rarely buy anything like that, the only fake meat in my house is Cauldron Cumberland Sausage (made from Tofu), and i probably get through five or six packs a year. That’s it. I won’t even have Quorn in the house, as it’s just bleached mould grown in vats of chemical slurry. Nasty stuff with zero nutritional benefit.

All you have to do is walk down any supermarket isle dedicated to veganism. It’s shelves filled with heavily processed foods replicating or replacing meats.

Veganism is fine if you can cook, if you can work with the fruit and veg to create fresh meals, then great. Very healthy.
But if you can’t, and you rely on what the supermarkets sell you as vegan food, all processed to hell and back, then i absolutely do not believe that is healthy, and I do believe your health will suffer from it.

I eat fresh vegetables every day. I have a salad with every dinner. I don’t eat fruit, don’t believe in it. I try to eat seasonally where I can. I don’t drink, haven’t had alcohol for three years, and I generally follow a low carbohydrate diet (for a variety of reasons). I drink at least 6 litres of water a day.

I honestly believe I live healthily, though my job is very sedentary, so need to think about being more active.

I would honestly rather go back to eating meat than turn Vegan (not that this will happen). I believe that eating one quality piece of naturally fed meat is healthier and better for the body than eating any vegan meat substitute.

And, I believe there is an agenda afoot, I think corporations want to control the food supply, and want people off the meat.

A quality naturally reared piece off meat is way better for the body than any of these a fake foods.

[Lindsayt]

I've not read the book, so i cannot comment on that, but nutritionfacts.org is full of nutrition misinformation. Be wary.

Hope all is well wherever you are, or are going. :/

For example?

[TheMarlin]

I personally can't see the point in fake meat. Meat is meat. Plant stuff is plant stuff.

Plants have different tastes and textures to meat. Rejoice in the plantiness of plants. And the meatiness of meat. Or the fleshiness of fish etc.

Stuff like veggie burgers or fake meat - the ones I've tried so far have left me thinking I'd rather eat the real meat. Or I'd rather eat the relatively unprocessed plants. Something that brings out the wonderful flavours and textures of the plants.

For me personally, I love fruit. Always have done, always will. The best parts of most desserts for me are the fruit. To the point where I'd so very often rather eat just the raw fruit and sod the sponge, biscuit, custard whatever.

I also love nuts, lightly roasted. Unsalted.

Cabbage based home-made salads have become a staple in my house. Bron mandolined. with variations on the ingredients and tastes. Sweet salads with apple / black seedless grapes. Savoury salads without the fruit with pine nut kernels.

I've just grown and eaten my first batch of broccoli sprouts. Cheap, tasty. Any health / brain chemical benefits are a bonus.

I will never be a full on vegetarian, nor a vegan. But I have gotten tired of when I go out to eat, eating flesh, flesh and more flesh. These days I pick vegetarian options more often than not - eg the veggie curry at Wetherspoons, which may not be particularly healthy, but at least it doesn't leave me feeling dead inside in the way that a big mac with fries and milkshake does.

97% of Americans eat below the recommended levels of roughage.
Here in the UK, watching episodes of You Are What You Eat was an eye opener. When they laid the tables out with what people were eating each week it was a sea of golden brown. Almost no reds, blues, greens, purples to be seen.
I know so many people that have a faddy approach to food. If it's a different taste or texture to what they're used to, they're not interested - even though it may be delicious.
We don't have a brilliant food culture in the UK. Compared to other countries like France, Italy, Thailand.

Maybe I'm a bit of an outlier? In that I am ambitious in terms of the things that I have in my life. Ambitious in terms of the hi-fi forum I'm most willing to post on. Ambitious in the house I live in compared to the cost. Ambitious in the hi-fi equipment I have compared to the cost. Ambitious in what I will put in my gob...

[TheMadMick]

Everything in moderation. Easier said than done!

[slinger]

I agree with Lindsay, I think the worst "healthy veggie" options I've tasted were all pretending to be something else, like sausages, burgers, and bacon. I suppose it tempts meat-eaters, but I can't believe it keeps them onside unless they're prepared to look beyond hotdogs made out of mushrooms, and sausage rolls made out of Gawd knows what.

I recently bought a Ninja Foodi "Power Nutri Blender" and have taken to making fruit smoothies in the evenings and cutting out desserts. I try to vary the fruit, but the base is usually banana and apply. Frozen fruit is great for smoothies too, "fresh" berries all year round.

I also try to eat vegetarian at least once a week, sometimes more. Veggie curries are quick and simple, as is a stir-fry with rice, or noodles. Veggie pizzas are another favourite.

I could happily live the rest of my life without another Sunday roast, and most probably will as I live on my own. Mind you, I do love Yorkshire pud drenched in gravy, and sprouts, and carrots, and peas, and... maybe I'll just forget about the beef and cook the rest.

I'm going to give sheep another chance tonight. I've got a "Mini Shoulder Joint" and I'll make some mash, gravy, and I haven't decided on veg yet, possibly some butterbeans mixed with sweetcorn. I hope I enjoy it because that's one of the problems with living alone, it's very difficult to buy anything decent in single portions, so you always end up eating the same thing two days in a row, or filling the freezer up.

I gave up smoking over 10 years ago, from 40-a-day, and I very rarely take a drink these days, so I'm doing my best. I still feel like shit most of the time though.

[karatestu]

I'm vegetarian (and so is my wife) . My 12 year old son is also veggie. His choice I might add. My daughter still eats meat although she is starting to eat less and less. Veganism is just plain wrong in my view. I just thought of a life without milk, cheese, yoghurt and butter and I must admit it looked miserable.

I try not to make meat eaters feel guilty about their choice. Possibly time for The Smiths - Meat is murder ?

[r3xj0hn570n]

I've not read the book, so i cannot comment on that, but nutritionfacts.org is full of nutrition misinformation. Be wary.

Hope all is well wherever you are, or are going. :/

For example?

Pretty much everything. OK lets start at their first point, Cholesterol. Almost nothing in the written text is correct. Here is an excerpt from Michael Eades newsletter

Quote

Since the days of Ancel Keys, the lipid hypothesis has been the dominant perspective in the world of cardiologists. The hypothesis is based on the flimsiest of evidence, yet it has virtually conquered the world. At its simplest, this hypothesis posits that elevated cholesterol, particularly levels of LDL-cholesterol (which isn't even cholesterol, but a carrier protein instead) cause coronary artery disease.

Over the years dubious research implies that when subjects eat saturated fat, their LDL levels rise. Since the lipid hypothesis theorizes that elevated LDL levels cause heart disease, then consuming too much saturated fat must also cause heart disease. It's like the mathematical rule that if A=B and B=C, then A=C.

So when someone comes in with an elevated LDL level, the doctor's first impulse is to write a prescription for a statin. A slightly less knee-jerk statinator might encourage the patient to cut out red meat, cheese, and butter in an effort to restrict saturated fat in the hope that the patient's LDL level will fall below the threshold for the statin. Typically it doesn't. The LDL stays up, and the doc writes a script for the statin.

At this level, it isn't a conspiracy. It's incompetence. There are all kinds of studies showing that fat in the diet, even saturated fat, does not lead to heart disease. There are all the huge, multi-million-dollar, drug-company-funded studies showing, if you but examine them, that statins don't improve all-cause mortality, which is the most important thing. It doesn't matter if the drugs reduce your risk of heart disease a little, but replace that with an increased risk of cancer or other disorders that could also kill you and it's zero sum. There has never been a study showing saturated fat intake increases the risk of heart disease.

[r3xj0hn570n]

... and here is a study to prove the above point ...

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... via%3Dihub

[Lindsayt]

I've not read the book, so i cannot comment on that, but nutritionfacts.org is full of nutrition misinformation. Be wary.

Hope all is well wherever you are, or are going. :/

For example?

Pretty much everything. OK lets start at their first point, Cholesterol. Almost nothing in the written text is correct...

Here's the first part of what it says on the Nutrition Facts website for cholesterol:
https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/cholesterol/

"Cholesterol is a vital component of our cells, which is why our body makes all that we need.

For most Americans eating a conventional diet, plaque accumulates inside the coronary arteries that feed our heart muscle. This plaque buildup, known as atherosclerosis, is the hardening of the arteries by pockets of cholesterol-rich fatty material that builds up beneath the inner linings of the blood vessels. This process seems to occur over decades, slowly bulging into the space inside the arteries, narrowing the path for blood to flow.

The restriction of blood circulation to the heart may lead to chest pain and pressure when people try to exert themselves. If the plaque ruptures, a blood clot may form within the artery. This sudden blockage of blood flow may cause a heart attack, damaging or even killing part of the heart."

Can you please explain what in that is incorrect?

Is it or isn't it true that:
Cholesterol os a vital component of our cells
That our bodies make all the cholesterol that our bodies need
For most Americans, eating a conventional (American) diet that plaque accumulates in the arteries feeding the heart muscles
That this is known as atherosclerosis
That this plaque is a cholesterol rich fatty material
That this happens over decades
That this narrows the path for blood to flow
That this restriction may lead to chest pain when people exert themselves
If the plaque ruptures a blod clot can form
The sudden blockage may cause a heart attack
A heart attack from such a blockage may damage or kill the heart
?

[r3xj0hn570n]

Is it or isn't it true that:
Cholesterol os a vital component of our cells

False. Cholesterol is the umbrella term for the blood lipid transfer system. When inside cells, the correct term is free fatty acids.

That our bodies make all the cholesterol that our bodies need

Misdirection: You need to eat the components for the body to be able to make cholesterol. If you don't eat the required components (i.e. a vegan diet), your body cannot make some cholesterol components.

For most Americans, eating a conventional (American) diet that plaque accumulates in the arteries feeding the heart muscles

Again misdirection, the diet causes damage to endothelial tissue due to massive inflammation. "Plaque" is the bodies attempt to repair damage. It's the old ambulances cause accidents observation.

That this is known as atherosclerosis
That this plaque is a cholesterol rich fatty material
That this happens over decades
That this narrows the path for blood to flow
That this restriction may lead to chest pain when people exert themselves
If the plaque ruptures a blod clot can form
The sudden blockage may cause a heart attack
A heart attack from such a blockage may damage or kill the heart
?

These are just definitions or observations.